Leaf Book (65 results)

cloth. Leaf Book (illustrator). 8vo. cloth. frontispiece portrait, (iv), 76 pages. First edition, limited to 804 copies of which 747 contain one original imprint from the St. Ignatius Print of Montana dated 1880 (Leaf Book - Chalmers 115). A fine copy. With a number of illustrations and even a tipped-in facsimile of a printing bill. A history and bibliography of imprints of the Jesuit Mission presses from 1876 to 1899. A fine work designed and printed by Lawton Kennedy. Tipped in plate of Father Joseph Giords, S.J.

cloth, paper spine label. Leaf Book (illustrator). 4to. cloth, paper spine label. ix, 22, (4) pages. Introduction by Bernard M. Rosenthal. With an Original Leaf from Hugo Ripelin's COMPENDIUM THEOLOGIAE VERITATIS (c.1478-81). NOTE: THIS COPY IS LACKING THE LEAF. Limited to 159 copies printed by Patrick Reagh and each containing a leaf. Aside from lacking the leaf, it is in near fine condition. Discussion of this early Ulm printer. Presentation from Bernard Rosenthal following introduction.

First edition, limited to 804 copies. Designed and printed by Lawton Kennedy. 8vo, 75, [1]pp. Mounted portrait frontis, facsimiles, photographs. Pages partially uncut. Original title leaf from "Szmimeie-s Jesus Christ: A Catechism of the Christian Doctrine in the Flat-Head or Kalispel Language" from St. Ignatius Print, 1880 laid in. Red cloth boards with vignette hand press illustration on front cover, spine lettered in gilt. Bumped lower corners else near fine.

cloth, slipcase. Leaf Book (illustrator). thick 8vo. cloth, slipcase. xxii, 650, (2) pages. Edited by Marcus A. McCorison from the Second Edition. Reprint, with rearrangements, of the second edition of 1876 (S-K for binding references; Leaf Book - Chalmers 155). Spine lightly faded, else a fine copy in near fine slipcase. Limited to 1950 numbered copies. With an original page from the first edition of 1810 tipped-in.

Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. Illustrated. (illustrator). 24 page staple bound booklet including covers. Very nice condition, paper wraps, reprint, later edition. Book.

hardcover. Condition: Gut. Seiten; Artikel stammt aus Nichtraucherhaushalt! BD9737 Sprache: Deutsch Gewicht in Gramm: 500.

San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1971. 4to, 86 pp. With illustrations and two original leaves inserted. Quarter blue cloth and paper boards with gold decoration on front & back covers; leather & gilt title label. Bookplate. Very good with original prospectus laid in. § Limited to 500 copies designed and printed by Grabhorn-Hoyem. Illustrated with a matched pair of original leaves from A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson, A.M. (1755), and An American Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster, LL.D. (1828), "Sla-Sle" allowing comparison of the men's definitions of Slattern, Slave, and Sleep, among other words.

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. (vi), 23, (xxxv1) pp., spiral bound in pictorial paperboard. Light shelf wear, fine copy with illustrations in colour. 33 x 22 cm. Number 129 of 150 copies. OH.

Oblong, 81 ff. Sinhalese script on palm leaf. Illustrated with 7 leaves of geometric and figural designs, recto and verso. Sinhalese manuscript (likely Sinhalese script in the Pali language) etched and inked on palm leaves. Blue-black Sinhalese rounded script. Contemporary painted, bevelled wood boards in orange and yellow, bound with soft twine. Illustrated with seven leaves of diagrams and figures: a palm leaf manuscript penned in the Sri Lankan Sinhalese script. The manuscript itself, along with each of its illustrations, is painstakingly inscribed by hand into dried and treated palm leaves. After inscription, ink is rubbed into the grooves left by the scribe's stylus. - In Sri Lanka, Sinhalese is both a spoken language of the Sinhalese people and a writing system in which one may also write in Sanskrit and Pali; indeed, Pali is a common language found in Sinhalese manuscripts. While palm leaf manuscripts are used for all sorts of works, from the Pali-Sinhalese medical treatise Yogaratnakara to the Ramayana, Sinhalese palm leaf manuscripts are particularly famous for their importance in preserving texts of Theravada Buddhism, including sutras and histories. - Palm leaf manuscripts are hardier than paper or vellum in humid, tropic environments, and resist rotting and insect damage. For this reason, they were developed over two millennia ago in Southeast Asia, and have continued as a traditional and practical manuscript tradition ever since. - Gentle edgewear, light soiling.

From the publisher, Rollin Milroy: "The focus of Labour Vertue Glorie, however, is not the content or interpretations of the two authorsĠ emblems, but the production and form of the books from which these sample leaves come. To that end, the book reprints three of WitherĠs prefatory notes from A Collection: one about William MarshallĠs engraved frontispiece, one about the game of lots included in the book, and ÒTo The ReaderÓ in which he discusses at length the bookĠs creation and intent. Each of these is appended with comments from a variety of sources, discussing and sometimes disputing the authorĠs words. The comments also provide some insights to how Wither adopted, and more importantly adapted, RollenhagenĠs original work for his own purposes. While not exact facsimiles, the reprinted texts follow the originalĠs use of swash characters and seemingly random combinations of roman, italic, and majuscule types. But only the reprinted texts; the rest of the book is set in a more traditional, and calming, manner." Quarto. 63, (ii)pp. . Series 3, with a leaf from both Rollenhagen'a Nucleus Emblematum Selectissimorum and Winter's Collection of Emblemes, Ancient & Moderne. Series 1 contained four leaves, including leaves containing the same engravings from Rollenhagen and Winter; Series 2 contained a leaf from Rollenhaben paired with the same plate on a Wither leaf. With illustrations, ornaments, and decorative initials. Bound in cream-colored paper over boards at the HM Studio. A fine copy. One of forty-eight copies, done in three different formats. Series 3 is one of twenty-four copies out of a total edition of forty-eight copies.

287 x 212 mm. (11 1/4 x 8 1/2"). xiv pp., [1] leaf (blank), 325, [1] pp., [1] leaf. Publisher's green buckram, cover and spine lettered in gilt. In original (slightly creased and torn) glassine and gold-speckled deep green slipcase with paper label. Section titles with illustrations by T. O. Duncan. WITH SIX LEAVES FROM SPORTING BOOKS. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR on the limitation page. De Hamel & Silver, "Disbound and Dispersed" 205. Except for small problems with the glassine jacket, as new. This thorough bibliography of sporting book series published by 24 different publishers in the United States from the mid-19th century to the 1990s contains original leaves from six included works. Our author is bookseller, collector, and bibliographer Matthew L. "Duke" Biscotti, a noted sporting book enthusiast who has published six works on the topic. In 2010, he donated his extensive collection of sporting periodicals and ephemera to the National Sporting Library in Middleburg, Virginia. The six leaves here are from the following works: 1) Roosevelt, Theodore, and George Bird Grinnell, editors. "American Big Game Hunting," New York: Forest and Stream Publishing Company, 1893. 2) Holder, Charles. "The Big Game Fishes of the United States." New York: Macmillan Co, 1903. 3) Cook, Carroll Blaine. "Lake and Stream Game Fishing." Cincinnati: Stewart & Kidd Company, 1917. 4) Connett, Eugene V. "Any Luck?" New York: Windward House, 1933. 5) Clark, Roland. "Pot Luck." New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1945. 6) Allen, Durward L. "Pheasants in North America." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Co. (Wildlife Management Institute), 1956. This book is not rare, but it is seldom found, as here, in its original glassine dust jacket. FIRST EDITION. No. 176 OF 300 NUMBERED COPIES (and 30 deluxe lettered copies).

A Leaf Book. Pp. [16](last colophon, blank), pictorial title page, 4 full page illustrations, the title page printed in blue & black; white stiff paper wrappers printed in blue, very slightly soiled; within the orignal printed envelope; The Golden Key, Orinda, California, 1959. Hamel 217. *A keepsake (limitation not specified), printed on the 174th anniversary of the publication of Typographia for presentation to members of the Roxburghe and Zamorano Clubs; each copy with an original leaf from Johnson's Typographia tipped-in. The original leaf in this copy, tipped-in after the title page, includes illustrations and descriptions of such typographic tools as the frisket, ink-block, brayer, ball stocks and ball racks.

No. 37 OF 126 COPIES. 75 x 50 mm. (3 x 2"). 2 p.l., 23 [1] pp., [1] leaf. Tan paper, with a paper label over a 17th century printed fragment. WITH THREE LEAVES FROM MINIATURE BOOKS: one leaf from the "thumb Bible" "History of the Bible," (New London: W & J Bolles, 1831); one from "The Shakespeare Glossary," (Glasgow: Bryce Stokes, 1904); and one from "Dew-Drops," (New York City: American Tract Society, ca. 1847). With an additional fragment of a larger leaf tipped in at the front. As new. This delightful entirely handmade production features a list of miniature leaf books and three original leaves from miniature books published between 1831-1904. Since the 1970s, our collaborating husband-and-wife book artists Peter and Donna Thomas have been making paper, printing with a hand press, and hand binding books. The present book was assembled between 1997-2005 and then printed, the Thomases humorously tell us, "on a cranky old Pearl treadle press," using Joe Halton's linotype and Neuland types. All paper was handmade by Peter Thomas; as an artistic choice by the bookmakers, the endpapers include fragments of paper from the 1686 book "Keble's Reports," the same work from which the fragments on the cover and frontispiece originate. The three leaves included here provide an excellent representation of the charming miniature books of the 19th century. They include a leaf from a "Thumb Bible," the miniature volumes containing biblical excerpts that enjoyed considerable popularity during the period; a leaf from an "Ellen Terry" book issued by Glasgow printer David Bryce Jr., who produced these books using the relatively new technology of photographic reduction and named them after the most famous actress of the day; and an American example, produced by the non-denominational American Tract Society, which published several miniature religious books through the mid-19th century. This publication is made especially charming by its size, which, of course, is entirely appropriate for the volume's contents.

First work: 185 x 130 mm. (7 1/4 x 5 1/4"); second work: 265 x 175 mm. (10 3/8 x 6 3/8"). 1 p.l., 19 pp., [1] leaf; 3 p.l., 6 pp., [1] leaf. Two separately published works. Poetica Typographia Johnsoniana in publisher's brown paper wrappers, front cover printed in black. "A Leaf from John Johnson's Typographia" in publisher's light gray cloth, front cover with a paper label. Poetica Typographia Johnsoniana with wood engravings after those in Johnson. EACH VOLUME WITH A LEAF FROM JOHNSON'S 1824 "TYPOGRAPHIA" TIPPED IN. Disbound and Dispersed 122 & 174. See also: Bigmore & Wyman, pp. 371-73. Both volumes in fine condition; the tipped-in leaves near fine (one just a bit foxed, the other with a faint dampstain). This duo of leaf books celebrates John Johnson's classic work on the history and art of printing, notable for its small type and unusual formatting. According to Bigmore & Wyman, "Of the few standard works on the art of printing in the English language, this is perhaps the most familiar . . . . It abounds with information of a very useful character, spiced with conceits manifesting the originality, humour, and freshness of the author. . . . The type, never larger than brevier, sometimes is as small as pearl, and the intricacy of the composition evinces the wonderful patience of Johnson." Bigmore & Wyman conclude that "Whatever its defects and shortcomings, it has long since become, and deservedly, a printer's classic, and one in which the youngest apprentice as well as the most experienced journeyman finds matter of an amusing as well as useful nature." First published in 1824, the "Typographia" was issued simultaneously in four formats: 32mo, 16mo, 8vo, and royal 8vo, also known as the "Roxburghe Edition," having been distributed to members of the exclusive bibliophilic group known as the Roxburghe Club. The first leaf book offered here, printed in 1959, contains a specimen leaf from the 32mo edition (without the typographic borders), as well as excerpts from the original work coupled with a series of woodcut vignettes; the second item, published in 1982 on the occasion of the Zamorano Club meeting in October of that year, contains a specimen leaf from the 16mo edition (with the typographic borders), as well as an essay by Carey S. Bliss, former head librarian of the Huntington Library. Both leaf books are in lovely condition and make an excellent pairing. ONE OF 75 COPIES (of the first work); ONE OF 200 COPIES (of the second work).

260 x 170 mm. (10 1/4 x 6 3/4"). 17, [1] pp., [1] leaf. Publisher's sage green paper boards, cover with title printed in black. WITH A LEAF FROM THE 1865 BIELEFELD "DER KORAN." In fine condition. This charming and attractively printed leaf book served as the ultimate bibliophile's Christmas card. William P. Barlow, Jr. (1934-2021), was a dedicated Bay Area book collector who for many years served as president of the Roxburghe Club of San Francisco. Along with collecting, Barlow printed under the Nova Press imprint, putting out a smattering of pamphlets and "cards," such as the present volume. This tongue-in-cheek production gently pokes fun at the norms of the bibliophilic world even as it celebrates them, as evident in the limitation statement: "A moderate number of copies printed and distributed by the Nova Press, Piedmont, and its proprietor, Wm. P. Barlow, Jr., as a form of Season's Greetings to members of the Roxburghe Club of San Francisco and other friends. To the latter I apologize for a rather parochial parody and a somewhat un-Christmassy Christmas card; to the former I need apologize only for the way in which it has been done, as they are used to getting all sorts of strange things at Christmas." The leaf included in this book is from the 1856 Bielefeld edition of Ludwig Ullmann's influential German translation of the Qur'an, which was first published in 1840. The print run of this work must have been a good deal less than "moderate," as copies seem not to be readily available.

EACH ONE OF 125 COPIES. 47 x 38 mm. (2 x 1 1/2"). 18 pp., [1] leaf. Two copies of the same work, sold separately. Deep brown half morocco over marbled paper boards, flat spine lettered in gilt. WITH A LEAF FROM the Newberry Bible. De Hamel and Silver, "Disbound and Dispersed," 168.5. As new; one copy with the inserted leaf a bit browned with a small open tear to the margin (not affecting the text) but still excellent; the other with a very fine leaf, just a bit browned at the edges. These two copies of this delightful publication feature a leaf of the famed 1780 Newberry "Thumb Bible," accompanied by an essay written by one of the 20th century's most noted collectors of miniature books. It is a charming tribute on the bicentennial of the publication of one of the world's smallest Bibles. The Newberry Bible, fully titled "The Bible in Miniature, or a Concise History of the Old & New Testaments" was produced by Elizabeth Newberry, the niece of John Newbery, pioneering children's book publisher and the namesake of the Newberry Medal. Ruth E. Adomeit (1912-96) was a lifelong miniature book enthusiast: along with being known for her personal library, she wrote the leading bibliography of thumb bibles, was editor of "The Miniature Book Collector" from 1960-62, and was active in the Miniature Book Society. This publication is made especially charming by its size, which perfectly fits the tiny leaf it contains.

Dust Jacket Condition: dj. San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1977. Folio, 28 pp. Illustrated, original cloth, dust-jacket. A fine copy with the original prospectus laid in; the original plain wrapper has one short closed tear on the rear panel and has been lettered by hand on the spine panel. § Limited to 385 copies, printed by Grant Dahlstrom. A fine copy with the prospectus. The leaf is in fine condition and has two wood engravings of Cyprus and one of Phillyrea.

Dust Jacket Condition: dj. San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1977. Folio, 28 pp. Illustrated, original cloth, dust-jacket, bookplate and owner's signature on front pastedown. A fine copy in the original plain wrapper, very lightly edgeworn and titled in pencil on the spine panel. Prospectus laid in. § Limited to 385 copies, printed by Grant Dahlstrom. A fine copy with an especially good leaf with six large botanical woodcuts depicting Chondrilla (Skeletonweed), and five varities of Hieracium (Hawkweed), long used for diseases of the lungs.

ONE OF 125 COPIES. 420 x 290 mm. (16 3/4 x 11 1/2"). [iv], 7, [1] pp., [1] leaf. Gray paper wrappers, spine with paper label, in (worn but still solid) marbled paper slipcase. WITH A PLATE FROM the 1755-59 memorial edition of "Fables Choisies" illustrating Fable CXCI, "La Tortue et les Deux Canards." Early (original?) tissue guard. Front pastedown with E. H. H. book label of E. Harold Hugo. De Hamel & Silver, "Disbound and Dispersed," 130. Ray, pp. 16-20 (plate). Wrappers, text, and engraving in fine condition, with the plate very richly impressed. This attractive and generously proportioned fine press production includes an original plate from the sumptuously illustrated memorial edition of La Fontaine's "Fables." Ray cites that work as one of the three most beautiful illustrated French books between 1700-1914 and "one of the most ambitious and successful of all illustrated books." Its 276 plates were finely engraved with a surprising degree of consistency (especially given the large number of burins at work); they are always detailed and delicate, and they are frequently alive with light. In Ray's words, the illustrations, which feature a comprehensive view of the French countryside of the 1730s, offer a fertile world "to which the reader may return again and again for delight and instruction." The compositions are the work of Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755), the greatest animal painter of his age, who was ideally suited to illustrate La Fontaine; as Ray says, his "rendition of animals is hardly to be surpassed." The very dramatic plate included here, which accompanied the fable "La Tortue et les Deux Canards" ("The Turtle and the Two Ducks"), depicts the turtle clinging to a stick borne between the two flying ducks, but about to fall, Icarus-like, to its death. Oudry's skill with animals is evident here, in the muscles of the ducks straining as they fly with their burden and the careful detail of the wriggling reptilian legs of the tortoise. This leaf book was produced by Dawson's Book Shop, Los Angeles booksellers who began publishing in 1949. Printed at Saul and Lillian Marks' Plantin Press, the production demonstrates the quality of printing for which they were well known. Our copy is from the library of scholar-printer E. Harold Hugo (1910-85), who ran the Meriden Gravure Company from 1962-75 and sat on the board of the Stinehour Press from the time of its founding. He was known throughout his career as an advocate for fine printing, leading to numerous awards for himself and his company.

ONE OF 60 COPIES. 65 x 45 mm. (2 1/2 x 1 3/4"). 20 pp., [1] leaf. Quarter red leather over patterned paper boards, flat spine lettered in gilt, Dutch gilt endpapers. With a leaf from the Kleine Print miniature bible, containing an excellent engraving of Jezebel and Jehu from 2 Kings 9. DeHamel and Silver, "Disbound and Dispersed," 196.5. See also: Welsh 938; Spielmann 280. The book in mint condition (the inserted leaf just slightly browned at edges, but fine and fresh). This charming little leaf book pays tribute to a very rare miniature Bible published around 1750 in The Hague. Composed entirely of engravings printed on one side only, the work is a masterpiece of small-scale printing. In the words of the Spielmann Catalogue, "Many of the scenes depicted [in the original Bible] are of astounding beauty, considering the tiny scale upon which the artist had to work." The genesis of the present leaf book was the acquisition by the noted miniature book collector Ruth E. Adomeit (1910-96) of a fragment of 61 leaves from this Bible, which she obtained during a European trip in 1953. Our copy contains an engraving showing the meeting between the military commander Jehu and the wicked Queen Jezabel, which ends with Jezebel's being thrown from a window by her eunuchs. We see her mid-fall and upside down in the present image, while Jehu watches triumphantly from his chariot. Not surprisingly, given its small print run, this item is not commonly seen for sale.

490 x 325 mm. (19 1/4 x 13"). viii, 23, [1] pp., [1] leaf. Publisher's quarter vellum over gray paper boards, covers with device in gilt, smooth spine lettered in gilt. In (just slightly chafed) black buckram slipcase. WITH A MAP FROM THE ORIGINAL 1619 ATLAS bound in, with period hand coloring. (Map 293, "Tarvisina Marchia Et Tirolis Comitatus"). De Hamel & Silver, "Disbound and Dispersed" 186. One corner a bit bumped, otherwise the main volume flawless; the map edges a bit browned and just slightly frayed, a few light spots, but still excellent, with good color and strong general appeal. This attractive oversized production includes an original map of an important region of northeastern Italy, taken from the 1619 edition of the Mercator-Hondius atlas. A pioneer in commercial cartography and a founder of the Netherlandish school of cartography and geography, Mercator (1512-94) produced maps used around the world that were informed by his brilliant "Mercator Projection," which allowed the round Earth to be accurately depicted on a flat map. Near the end of his life, he began work on an ambitious cosmography that would contain an account of the creation of the world, a description of the universe, descriptions of the countries and oceans of the world, genealogies and political histories of the several countries, and a chronology of the cosmos. Only the account of creation, the chronology, and maps of the known regions of the world came to fruition. Mercator having died before the work came to press, it was completed by his heirs and published in 1595 with 107 maps. Leading Amsterdam map publisher Jodocus Hondius (1563-1612) acquired the plates in 1604 and issued the first Mercator-Hondius "Atlas" in 1606, with 37 maps he had engraved added to the original 107. Teacher and Hondius' brother-in-law Pieter van den Berg wrote the introduction and the descriptive text that appears on the versos of the maps. A 1611 edition increased the number of maps to 150, and another six were added in 1619. The hand-colored map included in our copy depicts the South Tyrol and Veneto regions, including Lake Garda, Verona, Padua, and Venice. It is accompanied with an essay by Norman J. W. Thrower (1919-2020), UCLA geography professor and cartographer, describing the historical background of the atlas. Joel Silver, in "Disbound and Dispersed," tells us that "the physical production of this leaf book is superb, from the design by Vance Gerry to the presswork of Patrick Reagh.". ONE OF 89 COPIES in quarter vellum (of a total edition of 115).

San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1949. Folio, (14), 42, (1, colophon) pp. Title and vignettes printed in red. Original quarter linen with rose pink papered boards, gilt device on upper board. Small white spot on upper board, patch of sunning on lower board, toning to front free endpaper, bookplate; very good. § Limited to 390 copies (including 50 de luxe) printed at the Grabhorn Press, this is one of the most pleasing leaf books issued by the club both for content, quality of leaves, and design. This copy has leaves from the Galeni de Affectorum (1512), Eusebii Pamphili (1545), and Dionis Cassii (1592). Some copies had leaves from other books. Chalmers, A Checklist of Leaf Books, 101.

Monograph by Frances J. Brewer. With a leaf from the Memorial Edition of the Fables Choisies, illustrated by Jean-Baptiste Oudry and printed in Paris by Charles-Antoine Jombert 1755-59. Pp. [viii]+10(last colophon), the title page printed in red & black; post folio; stiff grey paper wrappers with printed paper title label on backstrip, the wrappers very faintly damp marked near the backstrip and a trifle foxed; uncut; within marbled papered slipcase, lightly worn at edges, with a portion missing from both fore-corners; endpapers faintly foxed; Dawson's Bookshop, Los Angeles, 1964. Edition limited to 125 copies, printed by Saul and Lillian Marks at the Plantin Press, each containing an original leaf from the Memorial Edition of La Fontaine's Fables, 1755-59. Hamel 130. *From the library of David Levine, Sydney, with his book label on upper pastedown. Loosely inserted within a bound-in folded sheet at the front of this copy is a text leaf (pp. 19/20, Fable VI) and a plate illustrating the same fable, Le Loup et les bergers, from the illustrated edition of La Fontaine's Fables printed by Charles-Antoine Jombert at Paris, 1755-59. Issued just over 50 years after La Fontaine's death, that edition was published as a memorial to him, and is regarded as one of the most important accomplishments of book production during the time of Louis XV. The engravings are from paintings by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, who took five years to create them. Both leaves in this copy are a trifle foxed and soiled, with a couple of marginal damp stains. The text leaf features a large tailpiece ornament on the verso.

A Panorama of English Printing The Folio Society's Monumental Collection of Original Leaves from the Great English Presses [LEAF BOOK]. Original Leaves from Famous English Books. London: The Folio Society, [1963]. One of only 200 sets compiled and issued by The Folio Society. Large folio (22 x 15 3/4 inches; 560 x 400 mm.). Two introductory letterpress leaves, including a descriptive index to the contents, together with twelve original leaves from major monuments of English printing, each mounted within gray card mats. Housed in the original green cloth clamshell case, spine with gilt-lettered red morocco label. Some light rubbing and minor marks to case. A few leaves with occasional foxing, light toning, or offsetting from original mounting adhesive. Overall a fine, clean, and highly attractive set. The leaves comprise a sweeping survey of nearly four centuries of English typography and fine printing: Pynson's Froissart (1523) Foxe's Book of Martyrs (1575) The King James Bible (1611) Shakespeare, Second Folio (1632) - As You Like It Clarendon's History (Oxford, 1701-1704) Samuel Johnson's Dictionary (1755) Baskerville's Virgil (1757) Foulis Press Pope (1785) Bulmer's History of the River Thames (1794-1796) Chiswick Press Book of Common Prayer (1844) Kelmscott Press, The Well at the World's End (1896) Doves Press Milton (1902-1905) An unusually sophisticated and visually impressive "leaf book," issued at a monumental format and bringing together examples from many of the defining moments in the history of English printing. Particularly desirable are: the Shakespeare Second Folio leaf, the leaf from the 1611 King James Bible, the Kelmscott Press specimen designed under the influence of William Morris, and the austere typographic beauty of the Doves Press Milton. The inclusion of examples from: Richard Pynson, Baskerville, the Foulis Press, Bulmer, Kelmscott, and Doves creates a remarkably coherent historical progression from early Tudor printing through the private press revival of the late nineteenth century. Unlike many twentieth-century leaf books assembled largely from commonplace material, this Folio Society production was conceived as a serious bibliographical and typographic survey, and remains among the most elegant and ambitious examples of the genre.

Twelve Centuries of European Printing The Folio Society's Monumental Leaf Book of Great Presses and Masterpieces [LEAF BOOK]. Original Leaves from Famous European Books. London: The Folio Society, [1961]. One of only 100 sets compiled and issued by The Folio Society. Large folio (22 x 15 3/4 inches; 560 x 400 mm.). Introductory descriptive leaf followed by twelve original leaves, each individually matted on gray card and accompanied by bibliographical commentary. Housed in the publisher's navy blue cloth clamshell case, spine with gilt-lettered red morocco label. Some light wear to case, minor chipping to spine label, slight cracking at corners, and a small bump to upper front corner. A few leaves with light foxing or marginal toning; occasional offsetting from original mounting adhesive. Overall a fine, clean, and highly attractive set. An exceptionally ambitious and beautifully conceived survey of the history of European printing, spanning more than three centuries of typographic achievement and incorporating leaves from some of the most celebrated presses and editions ever produced. The contents comprise: St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei (Rome, 1470) Liber Chronicarum - the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493) The Aldine Dante (Venice, 1502) Ovid, Metamorphoses (Lyons, 1584) Estienne's Herodotus (Geneva, 1592) A Plantin Missal (Antwerp, 1610) The Elzevir Sallust (1634) Imprimerie Royale, Médailles (1723) Ibarra Bible (Madrid, 1767) Aesop's Fables (Paris, 1769) De Imitatione Christi (Paris, 1788) Thomson's Seasons (Parma, 1794) Particularly desirable are the two incunable leaves - the Roman De Civitate Dei and the celebrated Nuremberg Chronicle - together with the finely printed Aldine Dante and examples from the great Plantin, Elzevir, and Imprimerie Royale presses. The set was issued in an edition of only 100 copies and was intended not merely as a collection of fragments, but as a coherent historical panorama of European typography, illustration, scholarship, and book production. In both conception and execution it remains one of the most elegant twentieth-century "leaf books" ever produced.

180 x 130 mm. (7 x 5 1/8"). Single column, verso with 20 lines in an attractive bâtarde hand. Rubrics in dark pink, four one-line initials in painted gold on blue or dark pink ground, two two-line initials, on in blue on dark pink ground and one in black on blue ground, both with painted gold embellishments, one three-line initial resembling unfurling scrolls, painted in gold on a blue ground with gold pointillation and filled with a large flower, A LARGE MINIATURE OF THE CRUCIFIXION in a plain red frame surrounded by a three-quarter border filled with blue flowers with long protruding pistils, with numerous hairline vines and gilt bezants, and triangular sections painted gold and filled with strawberries and white flowers. Faint foxing and soiling to margins, light chipping to red frame and one initial, minor fading to painted gold in border, negligible imperfections to miniature (one of Christ's arms slightly rubbed, a couple tiny scuffs), but with strong colors and well-preserved details. Opening the Hours of the Cross (a shorter text sometimes accompanying the Hours of the Virgin), this miniature of the Crucifixion is attractively painted and features a touching depiction of Christ's final moments at the same time that it provides exuberance in an elaborately botanic border. Besides the crucified Christ, there are only two other figures in this intimate and lonely--perhaps even bleak--miniature: the Virgin Mary stands at the left of the composition in a blue dress and long pink veil, while St. John stands at the right, dressed in pink and purple and holding a green book. Blood flows freely from Christ's wounds, including small rivulets from his hands that fall on the heads of the Virgin and St. John, as if to anoint them. Although St. John's attention is focused on Christ, the Virgin fixes her gaze not on her son, but at St. John. Perhaps she is taking in Christ's words as recorded in John 19:26-27: "When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother." This miniature was probably executed in a provincial atelier, but the work is very competent, and it contains some quietly excellent details: the body of Christ looks natural and well-proportioned, the features of the Virgin and St. John are quite strong, and St. John's hand, raised in the sign of benediction, shows a high level of detail. Despite the somber content of the scene, the artist chose a surprisingly cheerful palette that favors pastel pink, lilac, and light blue. This type of Crucifixion image is quite common iconographically, but the coloring and spirited border give the content freshness that modulates the deep sorrow of the scene, lending it a sense of hope.

Text: 244 x 154 mm. (9 1/8 x 6 1/8"); Case: 502 x 372 mm. (19 3/4 x 14 5/8"). ii, 75 pp. Bound in flexible vellum with ties (inspired by Kelmscott Press bindings) by Amy Borezo, who also constructed the case holding the volume and leaves. The book printed letterpress on Zerkall Book Laid Vellum paper by Arthur Larson at Horton Tank Graphics. Book layout by Jill Mann. EACH COPY WITH FIVE LEAVES: ONE FROM THE KELMSCOTT CHAUCER WITH woodcut borders, woodcut beginning word, and A WOODCUT SCENE DESIGNED BY EDWARD BURNE-JONES, AND ONE EACH FROM THE PRESSES OF FOUR GERMAN PRINTERS FROM THE 1470s--PETER SCHOEFFER, JOHANN MENTELIN, G?NTHER ZAINER, AND ANTON KOBERGER, the Zainer leaf featuring at least one woodcut initial. The incunabular leaves consistently excellent, with only minor defects, and the Kelmscott leaves (which were never part of a bound volume) in entirely fine condition. This is a unique leaf book in the way that it combines three elements: a significant private press production involving people at the top of their craft, a scholarly commentary that contributes to a further understanding of the history of printing, and--most important--five leaves: one from the Kelmscott Press "Works" of Geoffrey Chaucer and four from books issued by German printers at work in the 1470s. The book has been printed and bound by hand by gifted professionals; the essay addresses a topic of significance to typophiles in a considerably more thoroughgoing way than has been done before; and the assemblage of leaves represents a powerful visual reinforcement of the text, as well as an opportunity to share in the ownership of four important incunabula, along with the extraordinary Kelmscott Chaucer. The story of the production is heavy on serendipity: in the winter of 2012, after purchasing a very incomplete copy of the Kelmscott Chaucer at auction, we considered the possibility of producing a leaf book, but because the Chaucer--universally considered to be one of the most beautiful books ever printed--had been written about by so many different people in so many different ways, we didn't know what aspect was left for us to explore. The one topic we fastened on as thus far inadequately examined is the origin of the work's typeface. We soon learned that Morris, who is known to have owned more than 500 incunables, most admired--and was, consequently, most likely to have been influenced in his typographic design by--Peter Schoeffer of Mainz, Johann Mentelin of Strassburg, G?nther Zainer of Augsburg, and Anton Koberger of Nuremberg. Over the course of the years succeeding the purchase of the defective Chaucer, we were fortunate beyond all expectation to acquire incomplete books from each of these four eminent printers. As a result, the present leaf book will allow the reader not only to read in the accompanying essay about the influence on Morris of his typographic forebears, but also to compare with his or her own eyes the resemblances between the Kelmscott leaf and the leaves from four centuries earlier. The essay comes in one of three bindings (which reflect the degree of decorative elaboration on the accompanying Kelmscott leaf): linen-backed paper boards in imitation of the small format Kelmscott publications (with a leaf containing text and small initials); floral patterned cloth after a Morris design (with a leaf containing multiple six-line initials); or, in the most deluxe version, as here, in flexible vellum with ties (with a leaf featuring a full woodcut frame, one or more prominent woodcut initials, and a very large and striking Edward Burne-Jones woodcut scene). No. VII OF 47 COPIES (numbered I-XLVII) bound in flexible vellum from a total edition of 165 COPIES. Text: 244 x 154 mm. (9 1/8 x 6 1/8"); Case: 502 x 372 mm. (19 3/4 x 14 5/8").

170 x 118 mm. (6 3/4 x 4 5/8"). Single column, verso with 15 lines in a gothic book hand. One four-line initial in blue with white embellishments, filled with pink and blue leaves, verso with three-quarter bar border of repeating orange and blue ivy on gold ground, and a panel border of acanthus and flowers on lobed shapes with gold ground or on bare vellum, recto with A HALF-PAGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURE depicting the Virgin and Child with a kneeling female patron holding a book, surrounded by a three-quarter gold and painted frame and a border of fruit, flowers, and acanthus on lobed or circular shapes filled with painted gold or on bare vellum. Rule at bottom of border just slightly grazed (margins otherwise quite ample), odd violet discoloration in vellum (a color transfer because of moisture?) on verso apparent (only) on the undecorated surface, with gilt and paint unaffected (the border at top and bottom on the side with the miniature with faint pinkish show-through), small mounting stains in five places in margins of verso, but the miniature itself nevertheless perfectly preserved, and the leaf sparkling with gold. This leaf is as joyful as the text it contains. The 15 Joys of the Virgin Mary is a prayer that was frequently added at the end of a Book of Hours, especially those produced in France in the 15th century. It celebrates the joyous moments in the Virgin's life (the Annunciation, Nativity, wedding feast at Cana, Pentecost, and so on), each beginning with the phrase "Doulce dame." The prayer was often paired with a miniature of the Virgin and Child Enthroned, as it is here, accompanied by the portrait of a female patron (also seen here). Despite the pinkish aura here, the present example is very pleasing, being replete with gold and full of detail skillfully realized by a talented artist. The molding of the faces is excellent, with subtle gray tones sculpting realistic features over porcelain skin. Although the Virgin is the largest figure in the composition (signifying her importance), the female patron is also a clearly announced presence. Beautifully dressed in golden robes and a black conical hennin draped with a delicate sheer veil, she kneels before a large codex, her hand resting gently on its open pages. Her finery clearly marks her as a member of the wealthy elite--a person who could afford such a costly accessory as a Book of Hours.

144 x 99 mm. (5 5/8 x 3 3/4"). Single column, recto with 14 lines in a gothic book hand. Attractively matted and framed. Rubrics in red, two two-line initials, one painted pink on blue ground with flowers, the other painted blue and inhabited by a rampant lion on pink and gold ground, recto with a panel border featuring long-stemmed flowers and owls on a pink ground, verso WITH A HALF-PAGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURE DEPICTING PENTECOST, WITH A FULL BORDER featuring a plethora of different flowers, berries, greenery, songbirds, an owl, and a butterfly, all ON A RICHLY PAINTED GOLD GROUND. Trimmed close on one side (and just grazing a border on the opposite side), very minor chipping to faces, trivial signs of rubbing or wear, otherwise a fine leaf--colorful, bright, and very pleasing to the eye. This leaf contains the customary Pentecost miniature associated with the Hours of the Holy Spirit, but with several attributes that set it apart from other examples we have encountered. The miniature here depicts a densely crowded scene with the Virgin at the center surrounded by the apostles, each of whom wears a burnished gold halo. Packed tightly together, they gaze up at a white dove who emanates small red tongues of fire above their heads. According to biblical tradition, this visitation by the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove enabled Christ's disciples to start preaching, marking the beginning of the Christian Church. The artist favors an unusual pastel palette, choosing pale pink for the walls and eggshell blue for some of the floor tiles, as well as bright yellow, muted lilac, rose, and lime green for the robes of the apostles. Looking more closely at the figures, we see that each face is carefully individualized, each with its own features and expressions. Although most crane their necks to get a view of the miracle unfolding, one of the apostles looks directly out at the viewer, as if surprised by our presence. Moving outside the miniature, we note that the leaf features a particularly exuberant border with tangles of flowers, fruit, acanthus leaves, and several birds, including an owl in one corner. There is additional interest on the verso, with another bright border painted an intense pink and filled with more flowers and owls.

235 x 159 mm. (9 1/4 x 6 1/4"). 131 pp. A Campbell-Logan Co. binding of purple quarter morocco, using marbled papers especially designed for this edition by Iris Nevins. Text with four nine-line initials in red and blue (replicating 15th century rubrication), two pages of typographic facsimiles. ACCOMPANIED BY A LARGE FOLIO SWEYNHEYM & PANNARTZ LEAF from the 1471 printing of Nicholas of Lyra's "Postilla super totam Bibliam." The book and leaf (which is secured behind a hinged cloth mat) housed in an impressive (15 1/2 x 11 3/4") navy blue folding cloth box constructed of acid-free materials by Jace Graf of Cloverleaf Studio. Title page printed in black, red, and blue. De Hamel "Disbound and Dispersed" 40. Aside from Gutenberg and his immediate associates, there are no figures more important in the early history of printing than Sweynheym and Pannartz, the earliest printers outside Germany. First at Subiaco and later in Rome, they produced an imposing catalogue of first editions of ancient authors, which for the first time systematically exploited the potential of the new technology as a means for disseminating humanistic texts to a large audience. The present scholarly work is the first book to create from the available information a broadly based and detailed picture of the activities of these two printers. The book examines in a full and careful way their lives and achievements within the context of their newly developed craft as well as the humanistic environment they encountered in Rome in the 1460s and 1470s. In the process of his account, Professor Hall challenges a number of widely held assumptions about the origins of printing in Italy. The volume is printed on luxurious mould made Frankfurt paper by Henry Morris at the Bird & Bull Press, for more than 40 years one of America's most distinguished private presses. The 14 1/2 x 10 1/2" leaves are in excellent condition, and they show to good advantage the famous and beautiful type Sweynheym and Pannartz first used in 1467, recognized now as the earliest truly roman font. Even though Sweynheym and Pannartz produced more than 50 different editions, their press runs were normally only 275 copies. Consequently, their books are now very rare, and complete copies are extravagantly priced. The present leaf book offers an uncommon opportunity for research libraries as well as collectors interested in early printing or in private press work and the book arts to obtain an example of the work of Sweynheym and Pannartz in a form that is handsomely produced and at the same time not prohibitively expensive. FIRST EDITION. ONE OF 233 COPIES (of 241 total).