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

San Francisco: The Book Club of California [Printed at the Grabhorn Press], 1949. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Very good +. One of 390 copies, folio size, 57 pp., with prospectus. The "Christmas Book" for 1949, a "book about that large and illustrious family of Sixteenth Century French printers...and illustrated with three original leaves from books printed by the three most famous members of the family..." (n.b., from prospectus). The text which accompanies the leaves was written by Mark Pattison in 1865, and "gives a detailed study of the work of the Estiennes, as well as a survey of the circumstances un der which it was controlled and produced" (ibid). One of the many books the Grabhorn brothers printed for The Book Club of California, and one which well shows their mastery of the great art of printing. ___DESCRIPTION: Bound in rose-coloured paper with a white linen shelfback, vignette on the front board in gilt, paper spine label with black lettering and a red decoration, title page with an… Read More

San Francisco: The Book Club of California [printed by The Grabhorn Press], 1939. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. One of 455 copies, folio size, 58 pp., with original leaf from "The Spectator" tipped in, with Ex-Libris of Alfred Sutro and postcard addressed to him written and signed by Eric Partridge. "The Spectator" was created in 1711 by Joseph Addison (1672-1719) and Richard Steele (1672-1729); published daily for the first two years, it served to inform people of subjects like literature and philosophy and to encourage educated conversation. Supposedly it was intended especially for female audiences, to make available subjects and education that might not have been offered to them otherwise. This volume was printed by the estimable the Grabhorn Press for the Book Club of California, and includes a leaf from the March 9th, 1711, issue of "The Spectator"; this would have been a very early publication, and in fact is "Numb. VIII". Originally, one of the Club's members, M. S. Slocum, was… Read More

[Mill Valley, California]: Sunflower Press, 2008. First and Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine/fine. Cunningham, Carol. No. 18 of 30, octavo size, 29 unnumbered leaves, signed by Carol Cunningham. First (and thus far the only) edition of this stunning bibliography from the Sunflower Press, bound by Joe D'Ambrosio; this volume spans nearly 50 years of The Sunflowers Press's publications. Carol Cunningham (1925-2013) and her Sunflower Press was best known for significant contributions to modern book arts; she is best known for her miniature books and was the second woman to become a Companion of the Moxon Chappel, a historic Bay Area printmaking club. Cunningham and close friend Diane Weiss founded the Fine Print Fair, now run by the Pacific Center for the Book Arts. Bound by Joseph J. D'Ambrosio (1934-2009), an exceptional book artist who wrote, set type, printed designs, illustrated, and distinctly bound his books. D'Ambrosio exhibited in many one-man and group exhibitions, and his works are in… Read More

Vercello: Presso Il Panialis, 1768. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very good. First printed edition, octavo size, 80 pp., all text in Italian. Luigi Tansillo (1510-1568) wrote several volumes of poetry, one of which was "considered licentious enough" to be placed on the list of books banned by the Vatican, by Pope Paul IV (1476-1559) (per Wiki). This work, La Balia, is considered to be one of the earliest "Pediatric" poems; although written in first half of the sixteenth century, it was not discovered until the 18th century, this book being the first time it was published. It sets forth advice for mothers to nurture their own children instead of giving them to a wet nurse, apparently "prompted by an illness of his wife after abstaining from suckling her own child". ___DESCRIPTION: Bound in later marbled paper over boards, new-ish leather spine label, new-ish endpapers, lovely vignette engraving on the title page of a woman suckling an infant, while another child rocks a third child in a cradle, with… Read More

Paris: Editions des Horizons de France, 1936. Original wraps. Good +. Graux, Louis W.. Quarto size, 142 pp., in French. "La Bourgogne" is a history of Burgundy, a region in France well-known for its vineyards and winemaking; this book comprises the history and development of the region, as well as the tradition of winemaking among the counties. With much local history, this book is a charming study of French countryside traditions particular to Burgundy. Included also are original drawings by Louis W. Graux (1889-1962), a French landscape painter whose sensitive colours deeply capture the warmth of the French terrain. The volume is in original wrapers folded over endpapers, offering a delicateness that complements the gentle mark making of the illustrations. ___DESCRIPTION: Original wrappers folded over endpapers, red and black lettering on the front wrapper and spine, with a red and black illustration of people working in a vineyard on the front wrapper and a black-and-white vignette on the back… Read More

Buenos Aires: Francisco A. Colombo, 1958. Limited Edition. Wraps. Near fine/near fine. Veroni, Raul, Vassena, Leonor. Number four of ten printed on Pergamino Fabriano, in Spanish, octavo size, [64] pp., signed by Alfredo Martinez Howard at the colophon and Leonor Vassena below the plate. A book of poetry (in Spanish) with haunting illustrations, offered as issued in unbound signatures in original wraps, with original glassine wrapper. ___DESCRIPTION: Paper wrappers with glassine jacket, front wrap and spine printed in red and black, unbound leaves mostly unopened, title-page printed in red and black, frontis and one signed etching, Pergamino Fabriano paper, octavo size (9" by 6.75"), pagination: [1-8] 9-52 [53-64 index and colophon], limited edition, this number IV of ten copies I to X printed on Pergamino Fabriano (total edition 50), signed by Alfredo Martinez Howard at the colophon and Leonor Vassena below the plate. ___CONDITION: A bright clean copy, sole signature with minimal foxing that… Read More

Paris: Société du Livre d'Art, 1923. Limited Edition. Wraps. Very good. Jacquemot, Charles. No. XI of XXV copies on Japon imperial (Japan vellum), octavo size, 112 pp., with an extra suite of plates, all illustrations signed in pencil by the artist. Adrien Pierre Bagarry was a French Impressionist and Modern artist (1898-1949); we find no other written works by him online. Charles Jacquemot (1879-1946) was a fairly prolific French artist, whose works can be found within auction records. This poem consists of seven élégies, with eight full-page cuts bound in, each signed below the plate in pencil by the artist. There is also an additional suite of cuts, again, each signed below the plate in pencil. Not only did the artist sign all of the illustrations, but on the half-title page is an inscription (partially erased) signed by him, and on p. 47 are four lines written by him. ___DESCRIPTION: Bound in the original wraps with a small illustration on the front wrap which is in addition to the eight… Read More

BS. [Buenos Aires] - Argentina: (Colombo), 1954. Limited Edition. Wraps. Near fine/near fine. Veroni, Raul. Number 40 of 60 copies, quarto size, [32] pp. Gabriele D'Annunzio, Prince of Montenevoso, Duke of Gallese (1863-1938) was an Italian writer, a proto-futurist obsessed with sex, whom some people believe invented fascism. This poem was written in 1902 for his lover Eleonora Duse, and was originally intended to be part of a series of seven books dedicated to the Pleiades (only four were completed), text in Spanish and Italian, Spanish translation Tulio Carella. ___DESCRIPTION: Gray paper covered wrappers with glassine jacket, unbound signatures, title page printed in black and teal, two small woodcuts, initial capitals in teal, P.M. Fabriano paper, Garamond Frances type, quartoo size (10.25" by 6.75"), [32] pp., limited edition, number 40 of 60 copies. ___CONDITION: A bright clean copy, with no foxing, in the original glassine, with only some minor foxing at edges and a few chips to the… Read More

Paris: Librairie Honore Champion, 1908. Hardcover. Near fine. Quarto size, 390 pp., in French, with folding maps. This volume comprises a geographic study of the Sinai Peninsula, in Egypt, written by French archaeologist and Egyptologist Raymond Weill; it is a thorough examination of the topography and climate of the region, and their effects on the locality and development of civilisation there, aided by detailed maps throughout. Although it is part of a series, this book is a stand-alone; it is also in a lovely custom binding, as it was probably issued in the original wraps. ___DESCRIPTION: Quarter red leather with marbled paper boards in red with flecks of gilt, the spine with five raised bands, five gilt illustrations of the Star of David, and gilt lettering, top edge gilt, red marbled endpapers, title page with publisher's device in black, various tables and maps in black throughout, three fold-out maps and one fold-out topographical chart, some in black and white and some in colour; quarto… Read More

Playa Vista, California: Two Hands Press, 2018. Limited Edition. Accordion. Fine. Delauney, Sonia. Lettered copy "J" of 30 lettered copies hors de commerce, artist book folded accordion style, signed by Kitty Marryat at the colophon. This the first Two Hands Press edition, a facsimile - or "recreation" as the press prefers to describe it - of the first edition of 1913, lettered copy "J" of 30 lettered copies hors de commerce; there are also 150 numbered copies, for a total edition of 180 copies. "Transsibérien" is considered a seminal avant-garde artist book of the 20th century; of the eleven copies of the original edition that have sold at auction in this century, the average price realized has been about $200,000. This is the first true facsimile, using similar methods and materials as the first edition of 1913. The original "La Prose du Transsibérien" was written, designed and printed by letterpress and illustrated by pochoir in an edition that was stated to be 150 copies (in three subsets,… Read More

(Paris): Editions Filigranes, 1995. Limited Edition. Folio. Fine. No. 122 of 220 (total edition 250), folio size, 319 pp., in French. Roger Devauchelle (1915-1993) was apprenticed at an early age to a bookbinder and eventually trained in all aspects of bookbinding; he opened his own bindery which, as a family business, is still in operation today as the Atelier Devauchelle. This volume reviews bookbinding in France, its history and techniques, and provides a biography of the better-known French bookbinders with many examples of their work. This volume is the deluxe edition and comes with a separate folio of twenty examples of the "Rares et Curieuses" volumes in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. ___DESCRIPTION: Individual signatures within a heavy white paper wrap, black lettering on the front wrap and spine, decoration in black on the rear wrap, the work is lavishly illustrated with both diagrams and photographs, in both colour and black and white, arranged by time period, with an index of… Read More

San Francisco: Braun-Knecht-Heimann-Co, 1929. Hardcover. Very good +. Quarto size, 552 pp. Issued by the Braun-Knecht-Heimann-Co. of San Francisco, and The Braun Corporation of Los Angeles, this 1929 catalog offers "supplies as are generally used in school laboratories" as well as "a limited line of agricultural equipment", along with "all instruments and equipment" manufactured by the W.M. Welch Scientific Company. The publishers also endeavored to introduce Historical Notes "in the hope that they may prove of interest and provide accessible biographical material" (n.b., quotes from the Introduction). The catalog runs to 551 pages and is replete with drawings of various pieces of scientific equipment, the Index beginning with "Absorbent Cotton" and ending with "Zoology Specimens". A fascinating look into the apparatus needed to study the sciences in the first quarter of the 20th century, now almost one hundred years ago in time - but light-years ago in terms of knowledge. ___DESCRIPTION: Bound… Read More

Waltham Saint Lawrence: The Golden Cockerel Press, 1928. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/good +. One of 500 copies, duodecimo size, 67 pp., with original dust jacket. We find etiquette books such as this a delight to read, providing as they do glimpses into a world long gone. This book, for example, contains a chapter on the then-new "waltzing" with a warning to parents about the perils of unmarried couples touching. The Contents lists such topics as "Introductions", "Visitors and Visiting", "Waltzing", "Marriage", "Servants", and "the Philosophy of certain Fashionable Observances". This charming publication by the Golden Cockerel Press contains four engravings on copper by Hester Sainsbury (1890-1967) who, although apparently had no formal art training, provided the illustrations for the first book of the Favil Press, a small collection of Sainsbury's poems, among many others (see Horne p. 381). She "became a successful artist and print-maker in the 1920s, being known among other things for… Read More

[Vancouver, B.C.]: HM [Heavenly Monkey], 2022. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Bachinski, Walter. One of 30 copies, octavo size, the two stories with 26 total pp., signed by Walter Bachinsky, with a printed version of the HM prospectus. Heavenly Monkey includes the tag line on their web site of "Publisher of elusive books". Truer words were never spoken, for the exceptionally high quality of the Heavenly Monkey publications, in every aspect, has gained for Rollin Milroy an enthusiastic and devoted following, with his books extremely difficult to obtain if one is not fortunate enough to be on the subscriber list. This recent publication includes two short stories by Frank L. Stockton (1834-1902), who went against the wishes of his father (to study medicine) and instead became a wood engraver, working for "Hearth and Home" and subsequently for "St. Nicholas Magazine" as assistant editor. One of these two stores, "The Lady, or the Tiger" (originally published in 1882), is his most famous, and met… Read More

[Laguna Beach]: Lagune Verde Imprenta, 1988. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. One of fifty copies, quarto size, [72] pp., with errata slip, signed by Ward Ritche. Harry "Ward" Ritchie (1905-1996) founded The Ward Ritchie Press, a fixture in the Southern California literary landscape, in 1932. He was responsible for publishing thousands of books, including over 750 which were designed by Ward Ritchie himself. After retiring from printing as a career, what did he do but...start his own printing press, the Laguna Verde Press. This "bibliography" of the Laguna Verde Press not only covers the twenty-six items published under this imprint, but also gives the history of the Press, including how he obtained his printing press and had it installed (he was warned that he'd "have to remove the house first" to get it back out). Published when Ritche was 83, the entire edition was set and printed by hand on his 1835 Albion Press. Not only does this work cover the twenty-six items published (numbered "wr 1"… Read More

[Berkeley]: Tangram, 1990. First and Limited Edition. Wraps. Fine. One of 200 copies, octavo size, 20 pp., inscribed by Denise Levertov on the half-title page. Priscilla Denise Levertov (1923-1997), recipient of the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry and a Guggenheim Fellowship, was socially active in the 1960s and 70s, serving as the poetry editor for "The Nation". Later she would teach at Brandeis University, MIT, Tufts University, and Stanford University. During her lifetime, she would eventually write and publish twenty-four books of poetry, along the way garnering multiple awards and honors. Her biography on the web site of The Poetry Foundation describes her writing thus: "Her work embraced a wide variety of genres and themes, including nature lyrics, love poems, protest poetry, and poetry inspired by her faith in God." This copy inscribed by her in the year of publication, simply: "With love from / Denise / Christmas 1990". These poems would later be published by New Directions in 1992 as part… Read More

London: The Author's Syndicate, 1901. Hardcover. Very good. Two volumes (complete), octavo size, 567 pp., inscribed by Biddle to Angelo Heilprin. An interesting work about the history of the Madeira Islands, inscribed to one fascinating man by another. The author, Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr. (1894-1948) was (per Wiki) "a millionaire whose fortune allowed him to pursue theatricals, self-published writing, athletics, and Christianity on a full-time basis." Born into wealth, he became known not only for his writing but also for his skills in hand-to-hand combat, which he used to train both U.S. Marines and FBI agents. Angelo Heilprin (1853-1907), to whom the set was inscribed, was "mostly known for the part he took [in] the Peary expedition to Greenland of 1891-1892...he was also a mountaineer and...founded the American Alpine Club" (in 1902). He went on an expedition to Florida in 1886 and to Bermuda the following year, both for scientific research. 1888 found him in Mexico ascending volcanos… Read More

[Paris]: Kickshaws, 1985. Limited Edition. Wraps. Fine. One of 200 copies, sixteenmo, [24] pp. A lovely fine press book designed and written by John Crombie, who runs the Kickshaws Press with Sheila Bourne. Founded in 1979, the artwork (much of which is created by Bourne) is "designed to harmonize with the typography of the books and to illustrate, or decorate, the text", very much in the style of a French livres d'artiste (n.b., quote from Wiki). Per the colophon (facing the title page) this volume no. 78 of the edition of 200 copies; scarce in the marketplace, as of this writing we see only one copy online, located in France. ___DESCRIPTION: Bound in white stiff paper wraps with a design (done letterpress) reminiscent of an ancient amphora on the front wrap in red, with black and green lettering, title page in green and black, the amphora design used throughout with green and red lettering forming the shape amidst a square of black lettering (an amazing typographical feat), the prose poem… Read More

[New York, West Stockbridge, Prague]: Thornwillow Press, 1998. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. One of 185 copies, quarto size, [50] pp., signed by J.D. McClatchy and Mariana Cook. James Merrill (1926-1995), known as one of the leading poets of his generation, won nearly every major award for poetry - including two National Book Awards, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry awarded by the Library of Congress, and the Bollingen Prize in Poetry and the Pulitzer Prize. Praised for his stylish elegance, moral sensibilities, and transformation of autobiographical moments into deep and complex meditations, Merrill's work spans genres, including plays and prose, but the bulk of his artistic expression can be found in his poetry (n.b., from Poetry Foundation web site). This work, published posthumously, contain the last seven poems Merrill worked on prior to his death (and which can be considered "finished"), here printed for the first time. "Nearly all of… Read More

New York: Random House, 1957. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. First printing, octavo size, 352 pp. Isak Dinesen (nom de plume, Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke of Rungstedlund, nee Dinesen, 1885-1962) is likely best-remembered today for "Out of Africa", a fictionalized recounting of the life she led with her husband operating a coffee plantation, and for her short story, "Babette's Feast", both of which were adapted into Academy Award-winning films. This collection includes stories written as early as the 1930s. While several of the stories garnered critical acclaim, the work as a whole was described by "Time" magazine as "a group of Gothic fiction" (n.b., per Wiki). The publisher, on the dust jacket flap, describes it as one in which Dinesen "again casts her magical spell in prose and...offers twelve tales in which fantasy and reality are harmoniously intermingled." ___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full grey cloth over boards, gilt lettering stamped onto the front board and… Read More