|
| |
Illustrated Books and Emblem Books
Ariosto, Lodovico. [Opere] Orlando furioso
... delle annotazioni de' più celebri autori che sopra esso hanno scritto, e
di altre utili, e vaghe giunte in questa impressione adornato, come
nell'indice seguente la prefazione si vede. Venice: Stefano Orlandini,
1730. $5,000

Folio (39 cm); 2 volumes: [50], 576; [4] 400 pages, and 52 engraved
plates. Half title present, first title printed in red and black, with
engraved vignette on title page. Full-page portrait of the author by C. Orsolini. Second title within engraved border by Giuseppe Filosi. Section
title to the Commedia within woodcut allegorical border. Fifty-one full-page
engravings by Filosi and by Giuliano Giampicoli, within one of 3 elaborate
borders, one signed Filosi. Woodcut head- and tailpieces. Bound in recent
quarter leather over buckram-covered boards, with seven panel, leather title
labels in period style. Bright and crisp impressions, clean and fresh text.
References: Morazzoni 213; Gamba 60; Brunet I,437; Graesse I,199; Melzi 173;
Agnelli Ravegnani I,3.
Splendid illustrated edition of Ariosto's works, considered the culmination
of 17th-century baroque styles of Venetian book design and the first
emergence of the 18th-century neoclassical flowering. This copy features
strong, clean impressions of the plates, including the Orsolini's great
portrait, and fifty-one elaborate, full-page allegories ahead of each canto
of Orlando Furioso (which occupies the entire first volume) and the Cinque
Canti. The contents of the second volume also include the seven comedies,
the epistle to Bembo, the satires, L'Erbolato, and poetry in Italian and
Latin.
Bible. [Guéroult, Guillaume]. Figures de la Bible, illustrees de
huictains francoys pour l'interpretation et intelligence d'icelles. Lyon:
Guillaume Rouillé, 1564. $3,000

First edition. 8vo (17cm); 147 (of 148) leaves,
lacks final blank leaf. Woodcut printers device, and 269 woodcut vignettes
of Old Testament subjects by Pierre Eskrich, of which 18 are full-page cuts.
Bound in unremarkable 19th-century marbled paper over boards. Two
centimeters of title page excised at bottom edge, not affecting text. Pages
lightly toned with occasional blemishes or stains; light dampmark pervades
upper margin.
References: Baudrier, 9, 296 ("Les exemplaires de ce premier tirage sont beaucoup plus
rares que celui du second"); Mortimer, French, 92 ("this edition is
extremely rare"); Brunet, II 1255; Gültlingen 10, 147, #594.
Extremely rare first edition of the bible illustrations by Pierre Eskrich,
with verses by Guillaume Guéroult. A second edition
appeared in 1565, identical except for the year on the title page; the
companion New Testament appeared in 1570. Merging the separate traditions of
the "Biblia Pauperum" (bibles in pictures for unlettered readers) and the
emblem book (wisdom conveyed in pictures with explanatory verses), this
volume presents the Hebrew Bible in a series of woodcuts, glossed in French
octaves. The full-page images are copied out of Estienne's 1540 illustrated
Bible (Schreiber, 59), and the smaller cuts were designed for Rouillé's 1562
Bible, and here employed in more popular form, as emblems. Guéroult's name
heads the dedication to Catherine de Médicis.
Boccaccio, Giovanni; Hans Mardersteig. The nymphs of
Fiesole. Verona: Editiones Officinae Bodoni, 1952. $2,700

29 cm; 127, [1] pages. Illustrated "with the woodcuts made by
Bartolommeo di Giovanni for a lost quattrocento edition, which were used
to illustrate various later texts and have now been reassembled and
recut" (by Fritz Kredel). Bound in quarter vellum over patterned
paper-covered boards, with gilt lettering on the spine and single
vertical gilt rule on each board where the vellum meets the paper; top
edge gilt. Original slipcase. Pristine condition, covers never opened.
Reference: Mardersteig-Schmoller 102; Blumenthal, Art of the Printed
Book, 125.
"This edition, illustrated with woodcuts by Bartolomeo di Giovanni
recut by Fritz Kredel, has been printed in Griffo type on the hand-press
in 225 copies on hand-made Fabriano paper ... Number 99." (Note: In
order to preserve the pristine condition of the book, we have taken the
image of the title page from Blumenthal.)
Court, Pieter de la (1618?-1685) ; Jacob Gole.
Sinryke fabulen, verklaart en toegepast tot alderley
zeede-lessen.... Amsterdam: Hieronymus Sweerts , 1685. $1,800

Sole edition. 20 cm; [20], 727, [1] pages, including extra engraved title page. Woodcut
device on title page. 100 numbered copperpate engravings of emblems by Jacob Gole, each
emblem with a Latin motto in plate and a Dutch motto printed above it. Woodcut and
typographic ornaments. Bound in contemporary full mottled calf, paneled spine gilt tooled
with leather title label. Covers worn at edges and extremities, with joints,
spine-ends, raised bands and corners rubbed with little loss. Joints somewhat tender;
boards somewhat splayed. Pages a bit toned; endleaves and extra title browned at edges.
Extra title leaf ruptured along plate mark. Sound and entire, with clean, crisp
impressions of plates.
References: Landwehr, Emblem and Fable Books (3rd ed), 433; Praz, p. 392.
In the last year of his life, the political economist Pieter de la Court published this
peculiar book of fables illustrated with emblematic engravings by Jacob Gole. Each emblem
is glossed with a motto in Latin and Dutch, and each fable is supported with an
explanation. The fables and emblems carry political and secular morals, rather than
religious or spiritual wisdom.
Playbill
[Dieulafoy, Michel; Sewrin et Dumersan]
Portrait de
Michel Cervantes, ou L'Intrigue Espagnole ... suivie d'un representation des Anglaises,
pour rire, ou La Table et le logement.
Calais: Imprimerie de Leroy fils,
1817. $750

Folio sheet (44 x 32 cm); woodcut border. Capitals in woodblock type. Expertly matted.
Rare playbill announcing a performance at Calais of the popular comedy, Portrait de
Michel Cervantes, by Michel Dieulafoy (1762-1823). Dieulafoy was a prolific librettist who
wrote over a hundred light operas, comedies and farces to great acclaim. His
"Portrait of Cervantes" first appeared on stage in 1799, was published in 1802,
and translated into English by Charles Kemble (Fanny Kemble's father) in 1808. The play
was vigorous enough to remain in repertory for twenty years. (Contemporary with the
"Portrait of Cervantes," Dieulafoy wrote a similar 3-act comedy about Rabelais,
"Le quart d'heure de Rabelais" [1799] and a small opera about Milton to music by
Gaspare Spontini.) The second item on the program was a one-act musical comedy. The
director, Frédérick Lemetheyer, later became director of the Theatre Odéon in Paris.
Fore-edge Painting of Skaters
Falconer, William. The Poetical Works.
London: Bell and Daldy, 1866. $1,200

16 cm; 239 pages. Gift binding of tan calf, with gilt border on both
covers, spine decorated in gilt, and gilt edges. Provenance: The
Congregation of St. Saviour’s Upper Chelsea, to the Rev. W. Niven (gilt
stamped to upper cover). Fine fore-edge painting of of five figures skating
on a frozen pond with a snowy village in the background.
Fore-edge Painting

Gray, Thomas. Poems and Letters. London: Chiswick Press, 1874. $950
4to (29cm); xvi, 415, [1] pages, and 4 mounted photo vignettes. Bound in
full tan calf decorated in gilt by Riviere. All edges gilt. Plate backings
foxed.) Fine FORE-EDGE PAINTING of an idealized Italian quayside scene.
Hinges repaired.
A Paper World
Krul, Jan Hermansz (1602-46). Pampiere wereld ofte
Wereldsche oeffeninge, waer in begrepen zijn meest alle de rijmen en werken.
Amsterdam: Jan Jacobsz Schipper, 1681. $1,400.

Quarto (24 cm); [12], 320, 447, [5] pages, and engraved extra title page attributed to
Ferdinand Bol (1616-1680). Woodcut device on printed title page, woodcut initials. 92
half-page copperplate illustrations in text. 4 parts in one volume, parts 1-2 and 3-4
paged continuously. Bound in contemporary utility marbled boards with vellum backstrip.
TItled in ink on spine. Binding worn, with corners bumped, and some paper abraded from
edges of boards; spine dusty. Pages not bright, with occasional light dampstains,
including frontispiece. Yet book is sound and entire, in good condition.
References: Landwehr, Emblem and Fable Books (3rd ed.) 432 (calling for 88 engraved
illustrations only); Praz, 390.
Third and final edition of Krul's collected works, with illustrations
attributed to Adrienne vande Venne and an extra title page attributed to
Ferdinand Bols. Krul was one of literature's very few locksmith-poets,
although it must be said that in later life he gave up his work as a
locksmith and became a bookseller. The title might translate 'Paper world of
the worldly (as opposed to spiritual) exercises."
Luyken, Jan ; Adriaan Spinniker. Zedelyke en Stichtelyke Gezangen...
Bound with: Lof en oordeel van de werken
der barmhertigheid. Amsterdam: Kornelis Vander Sys, 1734.
$500

2 parts in 1
volume. 17 cm; [10], 300, [8], including engraved title page and 23 engraved
plates in text ; 17, [1] pages including engraved title page and 7 engraved
plates in text. Bound in contemporary speckled calf, worn at edtes and
extremities. Gilding warn from spine. Yet free of foxing, clean, sound and
entire. A good copy.
References: Landwehr, Emblem and Fable Books, 497.
The Dutch poet and engraver Jan Luyken perfected in his language the
"Metaphysical" style of poetry made popular in English by John Donne and
George Herbert and Richard Crashaw. Luyken explores the central paradoxes of
existence, and illustrates the matter with symbolic images. Luyken has been
called "the most fertile and versatile etcher of the Dutch school, and,
besides Romeyn de Hooghe and Gerard de Lairesse, the most imortant Dutch
copper-engraver of the period after Rembrandt" (Allgemeines Lexikon der
bildenden Kuenstler).
Fore-Edge Painting of Lawn Tennis

Rogers, Samuel. Poems.
London: Edward Moxon, 1839. $950
17 cm; 311 pages. Bound in gilt-stamped black morocco. Fine, bright
FORE-EDGE PAINTING of women in Victorian dress playing lawn tennis. Very
good.
Saavedra Fajardo, Diego de (1584-1648). Idea principis christiano-politici.
Cologne: Constantinus Munich,
1650. $800

14 cm; [24], 795, 5 pages, including engraved title page and 103 engraved
emblematic illustrations in decorative oval frames. Bound in contemporary
vellum, titled in ink on spine. Yapp edges. Shelf worn and not bright, but
hardly foxed and generally unblemished. Upper hinge split but holding. A
good copy overall.
Reference: Praz 483-84.
This essay on political power and its symbols was first published in
Spanish in 1640, and came out in a Latin translation in 1649. This
small-format edition of 1650 apparently increases the number of engraved
emblems by one (earlier editions had 100 numbered emblems plus two
unnumbered; this edition has 101 numbered plates). The text falls into the
tradition of courtly instruction, refracting the lessons through a series of
symbolic images.
Fore-Edge Painting

Scott, Walter. The poetical works,
volume 8 only. N.p.: N.d. $950
17 cm; 396 pages. Bound in gilt-stamped brown pebbled morocco. Fine
FORE-EDGE PAINTING of a nude woman studying her reflection in a country
pool.
Veen, Jan van der.
Zinne-beelden,
oft Adams appel. Verciert met seer aerdige Const-Plaeten musgaders syne oude ende nieuwe
ongemeene bruydt-lofs ende zege-zangen. Amsterdam: Everhard Cloppenburgh,
1642. $5,000

First edition. 4to (21 cm) ; [24], 523, [1] pages (with errors in pagination). Title
engraving and 50 copperplate engraved emblems by Salomon Savery (1594-1678), each emblem
with a two-line caption in Dutch above and two-line translation into French below, and an
explanatory stanza in Dutch on the facing page. Plate XIV a cancel, as usual in the first
edition. Bound in half calf over speckled paper-covered boards, rebacked with recent
leather in period style, retaining original boards. Trimmed a little close at top edge
without loss, except for page numbers of last two leaves. Lightly toned with occasional
spots.
Reference: Landwehr, Emblem and Fable Books, 846; Praz, 522.
Van der Veen's extraordinary emblem book, with his book of popular songs appended, was
reprinted frequently into the 18th century, but the first edition offered here is its only
appearance in the larger quarto format. The first impressions of the plates are crisp and
luminous. Also the only edition to include French paraphrases of the couplets accompanying
each emblem. Scarce and important.
Venne, Adraien van de. Tafereel van de
Belacchende Werelt, en des self geluckige Eeuwe, Goet Rondt, met by-gevoegde
Raesdel-Spreucken, aen-gevvese in de Boer-Achitege Eenvoudigheyt, op de
Haegshe Kermis. s'Graven-Hage: Gedruckt voor den Autheur, 1635.
$2,400

Quarto (22 cm); [16], 280 pages, included engraved title page and 12
half-page engraved plates in text. Roman, italic and Fraktur types. Each
page within type-rule border, with an additional vertical rule separating
text from shoulder notes. Panoramic woodcut head piece. Bound in
contemporary vellum over flexible boards. Old bookplate or bookseller's
ticket scratched out on front pastedown. One loose signature laid in. Pages
evenly toned. Marginal worm trails in latter leaves.
Only edition of this volume of "pictures of the absurd world," composed
by the artist, illustrator and writer Adriaen van de Venne. The fine title
page and twelve half-page plates are masterpieces of the ridiculous and the
grotesque, focusing vividly on the street life of the Hague with its
circuses, crafty beggars, packs of dogs, nose-pickers and its silly
nobility. The text is as lively and idiosyncratic as the engravings.
«Rare Book Studio Home Page
|