Burns Robert Bindings (5 results)

210 x 126 mm. (8 1/4 x 5"). xlviii, [13]-372 pp. With half title and the subscriber list [to the Edinburgh edition]. VERY FINE RED CRUSHED MOROCCO, GILT, BY RIVIERE & SON (stamp-signed on front turn-in), cover with French fillet border, raised bands, spine compartments with acorn-and-lancet central ornament, floral vines at corners, gilt lettering, turn-ins with complex gilt roll, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Burns. Gibson, p. 6; Egerer 2. âPerhaps pressed (not washed), but AN ESPECIALLY FINE COPY, quite clean and fresh internally, IN A SPARKLING BINDING with no signs of use. This is one of the most famous poetic publications in history, offered here in a most attractive copy of the first London printing (following an Edinburgh edition the same year and the extremely rare Kilmarnock first edition of 1786). Burns issued the poems at the age of 27 in order to raise passage money for a voyage to Jamaica, where he had been offered an agricultural post on a plantation. At a time when his contemporaries were searching for the "natural bard" and, in the process, had unearthed poetical threshers, poetical milk maidens, and poetical cobblers, the charming plowman Burns delivered his simple and beautiful lyrics with most propitious timing. He found himself famous almost at once, and his fame has not faltered over time, even though, after the appearance of the present work, he did little during the rest of his life except write songs and drink. The very attractive binding is the work of one of the longest-lived English binderies. Robert Riviere began as a bookseller and binder in Bath in 1829, then set up shop as a binder in London in 1840; in 1881, he took his grandson Percival Calkin into partnership, at which time the firm became known as Riviere & Son. The bindery continued to do business until 1939, when it was acquired by George Bayntun of Bath, a firm that is still producing fine work and is still in family hands. Third Edition; First London Edition, First State (with "stinking" instead of "skinking" in "To a Haggis").

307 x 215 mm. (12 x 8 1/2"). 40 pp., [1] leaf (colophon). DAZZLING CRIMSON CRUSHED MOROCCO, GILT, INLAID, AND BEJEWELLED, BY SANGORSKI & SUTCLIFFE (stamp-signed on rear turn-in), covers with inlaid light blue morocco border, blue Celtic knot strapwork at middle of each side and at corners, those on upper cover with a ruby or sapphire at center, those on lower cover with a circle of red or blue morocco at center, cornerpieces connected by a graceful loop to the blue morocco strip framing the central oval panel, the spaces between the strapwork ornaments and the inner and outer frames filled with pointillé gilt compartments tooled with gilt vines bearing inlaid white morocco flowers (upper cover) or purple morocco thistles (lower cover), a recessed medallion of green morocco at center of upper cover set WITH BURNS' INITIALS IN METAL ENCRUSTED WITH 80 JEWELS (40 CABOCHON RUBIES AND 40 CABOCHON SAPPHIRES) of varying sizes, central oval panel on lower cover with gilt lyre at center within a laurel wreath, surrounded by swirling branches of inlaid white morocco roses; raised bands, spine compartments with inlaid green and white morocco thistle at center, enclosed by light blue strapwork, the pointillé gilt background with inlaid white morocco flowers at corners, CERULEAN BLUE MOROCCO DOUBLURES AND ENDLEAVES, the front doublure inlaid at center with Burns' personal seal of a tan and white morocco woodlark perched on a branch of bay leaves bearing red berries, a red morocco banner below the bird lettered in gilt "Woodnotes Wild," corners of doublures with three inlaid pink morocco roses and a gilt thistle, free endleaves with gilt borders, all edges gilt on the rough. In a velvet-lined navy blue morocco case by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. EXTRAVAGANTLY ILLUMINATED THROUGHOUT: title page with large decorative initial and full illuminated border of thistles and acanthus leaves enclosing title and the royal arms in Scotland, frontispiece portrait of Burns (signed with Sangorski's cipher and dated 1931) within a laurel wreath surrounded by a frame of thistles on a textured gold ground, large illuminated initials on almost every page, WITH 16 MINIATURES, EIGHT OF THEM FULL-PAGE WITHIN FULL BORDERS, nine other full borders, seven panel borders, one three-quarter border (six of the borders inhabited by a faun, various birds, a squirrel, or a lizard, the borders all with varying types of foliage in shades of blue, purple, and green with backgrounds of burnished or incised gold, the border for "Rosy Brier" containing many pink roses), all protected by the original ivory silk guards. Ratcliffe, "Alberto Sangorski Bibliography" (2015) and "Hidden Treasures" (2008) MWE 61; "The History of the Book: The Cornelius J. Hauck Collection," Christie's, 27 June 2006, lot 669 (this copy). Very minor fraying to some of the silk guards, but essentially unblemished--A LOVELY COPY IN A SPARKLING BINDING. Done during the mature years of Alberto Sangorski's career, this lavishly illustrated and illuminated manuscript reunited the artist with his late brother's bindery, restoring a working partnership after 20 years of estrangement. Sangorski (1862-1932) started his professional life as secretary to a goldsmith's firm, became attracted to the book arts at the age of 43, and began doing illuminated manuscripts that were then bound by his brother Francis' firm, Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Sometime around 1910, Alberto and Francis had a falling out, and the artist went to work for Riviere, the chief competitor to his brother's firm. Francis drowned in 1912, while the brothers were still estranged; in "Cinderella of the Arts," a history of Sangorski & Sutcliffe, Rob Shepherd notes that Alberto apparently did not speak to George Sutcliffe again until 1930. The men must have reconciled sometime that year, because at least four of the six works Alberto created in 1931-32 (per Stephen Ratcliffe's checklist) were bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. The jewelled binding George's firm created for this manuscript hearkens back to the pre-WWI glory days when an intense rivalry between Riviere and Sangorski developed, and the two began putting out intricately decorated bindings described by Nixon as having as their main aim the putting of "so much gold and color on the cover that the hue of the original leather could no longer be determined." In "Hidden Treasures: Jewelled Bookbindings and Illuminated Manuscripts in England, 1900-1939," Ratcliffe notes that this is "an exceptionally elaborate binding" for 1931; costs of materials and labor had skyrocketed in the decade before, while the Great Depression and American protectionist tariffs were shrinking the market for luxury books like this. It is truly one of the last great relics of an era that produced some of the loveliest manuscripts and bindings ever made. The contents here include the Burns poems "Tam O'Shanter," "Meg o' the Mill," "The Ploughman," "To Mary in Heaven," "The Sodger's [Soldier's] Return," "There was a Lass," "O Bonnie was Yon Rosy Brier," and a five-page life of the poet. The full page (or very large) miniatures include depictions of Tam on horseback riding through a thunderstorm, Tam dancing with pixies, Meg of the Mill, the return of the soldier, the lass and her farm, and Rosy Brier; the smaller miniatures include landscapes (mostly of the area around Burns' birthplace in Ayr), scenes from the poems, or portraits of their subjects. Like the binding, the manuscript is unusually flamboyant, with lavish borders and substantially more miniatures than is customary--as if Alberto knew the end of his career was nigh and wanted to go out with a flourish. This gem was once in the illustrious collection of Cincinnati businessman and philanthropist Cornelius J. Hauck (1893-1967); the sale of his library at Christie's in 2006 totaled more than $12.4 million (this lot--one of six Sangorski manuscripts in the sale--sold for $42,000, all in).

First Edinburgh Edition. 210 x 123 mm. (8 1/4 x 4 3/4"). xlviii, 3[9]-68 pp. Without the half title but with the list of subscribers. ELEGANT EMERALD GREEN CRUSHED MOROCCO, GILT AND ONLAID, BY SANGORSKI & SUTCLIFFE (stamp-signed on rear doublure), covers framed by floral chain roll between two sets of gilt fillets, central panel with lobed fillet frame, oblique thistle tools at corners, upper cover with central medallion of lavender morocco with Burns' monogram in gilt, this surrounded by a wreath of gilt thistles with onlaid lavender morocco blooms, raised bands, spine compartments with French fillet frame, triad of onlaid purple morocco thistle blossoms at center, leafy fronds at corners, gilt lettering, RUSSET BROWN MOROCCO DOUBLURES framed by green morocco with ribbon roll border and quotes from "To a Mouse" and "Auld Lang Syne" lettered in gothic majuscules, at center of front doublure AN EXTREMELY FINE OVAL MINIATURE PAINTED ON IVORINE AND INSET UNDER GLASS IN A RECESSED COMPARTMENT, THIS SURROUNDED BY A LAUREL WREATH SET WITH TWO YELLOW TOPAZ AND TWO AMETHYSTS, apricot moiré silk free endleaves, all edges gilt. In a later very fine green morocco-backed clamshell box by Zaehnsdorf. With frontispiece portrait engraved aby John Beugo after a portrait painted for this edition by Alexander Nasmyth, with tissue guard. Verso of front free endpaper with morocco bookplate of Paul Edward Chevalier. Gibson, p. 5; Rothschild 556. âText lightly washed and pressed (in keeping with the bibliophilic fashion at the time of binding), but the leaves still fresh as well as remarkably clean; A FINE COPY IN A GLITTERING BINDING WITH NO SIGNS OF WEAR. This is an exquisitely bound copy of the second printing (after the extremely rare Kilmarnock first edition of 1786) of one of the most famous poetic publications in history. Burns issued the poems at the age of 27 in order to raise passage money for a voyage to Jamaica, where he had been offered an agricultural post on a plantation. At a time when his contemporaries were searching for the "natural bard" and, in the process, had unearthed poetical threshers, poetical milk maidens, poetical cobblers, and more, the charming plowman Burns delivered his simple and beautiful lyrics with most propitious timing. He found himself famous almost at once, and his fame has not faltered over time, even though, after the appearance of the present work, he did little during the rest of his life except write songs and drink. The so-called "Cosway" binding, featuring handsome morocco inset with one or more painted miniatures, apparently originated with the London bookselling firm of Henry Sotheran about 1909. It was in that year that G. C. Williamson's book entitled "Richard Cosway" (dealing with the British miniature painter of that name, 1742-1821) was remaindered by Sotheran and presumably given this special decorative treatment to encourage sales. The name "Cosway" was then used to describe any book so treated, whoever its author. Although the artist of our miniature is unidentified, the work here is remarkably well done and clearly inspired by the engraved portrait of Burns in the book. The quality of the painting suggests that it could possibly have been done by Caroline Billin Currie, best known for her role in producing Cosway bindings of the sort seen here. Collaborating mostly with Riviere, she produced about 1,000 such bindings by the time she died in 1940. The present example is the work of Riviere's great rival. Francis Sangorski and George Sutcliffe trained with Douglas Cockerell before founding their own bindery in 1901. They continued in a successful partnership until 1912, when Francis drowned. Despite this loss, the firm grew and prospered, employing a staff of 80 by the mid-1920s and becoming perhaps the most successful English bindery of the 20th century. Though our binding dates from the first quarter of the 20th century, its extraordinarily fine condition could easily lead one to believe that it is brand new. It should be no surprise that this beautiful volume has an illustrious provenance: it comes from the collection of 20th century English bindings put together by Paul Chevalier, whose library of beautiful volumes was uniformly characterized by outstanding workmanship and superb condition. The sale of his books at Christie's in 1990 represented one of the best collections of British bindings brought to auction in the past half century (this was lot #81, which sold for $3,300 all in).

ONE OF 500 COPIES. 222 x 178 mm. (8 3/4 x 7"). 3 p.l. (including half title), 99 pp., [3] leaves (index and colophon). LOVELY CONTEMPORARY OLIVE BROWN CRUSHED MOROCCO BY OTTO SCHULZE & CO. of Edinburgh (signed on front turn-in), covers with single gilt rule border, UPPER COVER WITH 11 HORIZONTAL ROWS OF GILT AND INLAID RED MOROCCO THISTLES, the thistles (numbering 72 in all) separated by small round tools, spine with two raised bands flanked by gilt rules, gilt vertical titling, turn-ins with single gilt rule, top edge gilt. Woodcut title and frontispiece portrait surrounded by wide, elaborate border of twining thistles and bluebells, large woodcut initials foliated with similar thistles and bluebells at the beginning of each poem. Spine a definite (pleasing) brown rather than an olive brown, lower corners lightly rubbed, minor offsetting from turn-ins to endleaves, slender, trailing two-inch marginal (glue?) stain to last two pages of index, occasional thumbing and other trivial imperfections, otherwise a fine copy, the text and decorations clean, fresh, and bright, and the handsome binding lustrous and unworn. This collection of poems by the most beloved Scottish poet is offered in an appropriately Scottish binding. Born on a small farm in Scotland and largely self-educated, Burns (1759-96) was inspired by local ballads. At the age of 27, he published "Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect" in order to raise passage money for a voyage to Jamaica, where he had been offered an agricultural post on a plantation. At a time when his contemporaries were searching for the "natural bard" and, in the process, had unearthed poetical threshers, poetical milk maidens, and poetical cobblers, the charming plowman Burns delivered his simple and beautiful lyrics with most propitious timing. He found himself famous almost at once, and his fame has not faltered over time. In the rest of his short life, he struggled to earn a living, collected traditional ballads, overindulged in drink, and wrote more poetry, though only "Tam O' Shanter" equals his first collection. The present item is a most attractive volume featuring 76 of the best-loved poems, including "Auld Lang Syne," "Scots, Wha Hae," and "A Red, Red Rose." The cover design and woodcut illustrations make lavish use of Scotland's national flowers, the thistle and the bluebell, and the wide margins and pleasing typeface add to the visual appeal of this item. Operating during the first 10 or 15 years of the 20th century, Otto Schulze was an Edinburgh publisher whose books sometimes appeared in bindings said to have been done by him. As in the case of other publishers and booksellers, such bindings often were done for, rather than by, the party whose name is stamp-signed on the volume. Bindings signed by Schulze are consistently attractive but are not common: since 1975, ABPC has listed six such (morocco) bindings, two of them described as "elaborate" or "extra." Since our volume says that the binding is by--and not for--Schulze, we can only assume that our publisher had an in-house binder.

FIRST EDITION. 200 x 130 mm. (7 7/8 x 5 1/8"). xix, [1], 560 pp. Handsome contemporary dark teal morocco by MacLehose (stamped-signed on verso of front flyleaf), covers with lacy gilt filigree frame, raised bands, spine compartments similarly gilt, gilt titling, elegantly gilt inner dentelles, ivory watered silk endleaves, marbled flyleaves, all edges gilt (invisible repair to front hinge). With frontispiece portrait of Burns and 14 photographic portraits of the translators. âSpine evenly sunned to dark green, plates a touch browned just at edges, occasional light offsetting, other trivial imperfections, but a nearly fine copy, the binding very attractive and the contents quite clean and fresh. This critical edition of Burns' poetry as rendered in 18 different languages is a wonderful example of works published and bound by the Glasgow firm of James MacLehose (1811-85), who began his career in 1838 as a bookseller, at first in partnership, and then on his own. In 1862 he added a bindery to the enterprise, and in 1881 he brought into the business his two sons, who continued it after his death. The MacLehose workshop produced high quality bindings, and catered in particular to book collectors. Our volume, with lovely gilt tooling and silk endleaves, was no doubt done for a discriminating client. It was a linguistic aptitude that brought our author, the iron merchant William Jacks (1841-1907), his success. He learned languages easily, and used this skill to great effect in international trade. As an MP for the Liberal party, he was an effective voice for both industry and commercial education. He continued to study languages throughout his life, and, according to the preface, prepared the present work to promote little-known translations of Scotland's favorite poet, "with a view to making a comparison of the power of the different languages in expressing those works." We find here poems in German, Swiss German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, Flemish, Afrikaans, Frisian, Czech, Hungarian, Russian, French, Italian, Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Welsh, and Latin. DNB notes that Jacks was in many ways a typical product of Victorian Glasgow, where "[m]any businessmen who came from relatively humble backgrounds encompassed very successful business careers with active public involvement and scholarly pursuits.".