shakespeare william bindings (6 Ergebnisse)

258 x 162 mm. (10 1/4 x 6 1/2"). xii, 170 pp., [1] leaf (colophon). With an introduction by Richard Henry Stoddard. VERY PRETTY SEA GREEN MOROCCO, ELABORATELY GILT, FOR H. S. NICHOLS, LTD., covers framed by gilt rules with floral tooling at corners, raised bands, spine panels lavishly gilt with a starburst of floral tools emanating from a central medallion, all on a stippled ground, gilt lettering, turn-ins framed in similar style to covers, leather hinges, ivory watered silk pastedowns and endleaves, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. Original paper wrappers bound in at rear. With title page vignette, decorative frame, and six engraved headpiece vignettes by Jacques Wagrez and 15 plates (five by Louis Titz and 10 by Wagrez). A Large Paper Copy. Front pastedown with morocco bookplate of W. A. Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. A very faint two-inch scratch to front board, vague fading around perimeter of covers, occasional minor foxing or smudges, but a very attractive copy, the text generally clean and bright, and the binding with virtually no signs of use. This is a bibliophile's edition of Shakespeare's tragedy, printed in Paris on special paper with large margins, attractively illustrated, and expertly bound for bookseller and publisher H. S. Nichols. The work is introduced with an essay by American literary critic Richard Henry Stoddard (1825-1903). Although the lettering on the front turn-in states otherwise, our volume was surely bound for--rather than by--the enterprising bookseller H. S. Nichols. Nichols started out in the trade in Sheffield, where he sold books and worked with Leonard Smithers, a publisher of the Decadent movement who issued books by Sir Richard Francis Burton, Oscar Wilde, and Aubrey Beardsley, as well as erotic works that crossed the line into prurience. Nichols moved to London in 1893 and set up as a publisher and bookseller on Charing Cross Road. Facing the threat of obscenity charges, he fled to Paris in 1900 and to New York in 1908. There, he established himself as a purveyor of quality editions and rare books. It is unclear at which point in his career our book was bound for him, but given the date of publication and the style of the binding, it was likely when he was in London, where there were a number of fine binderies that could produce work of this quality. The beautiful tooling, fine materials, and elegant design suggest a firm like Riviere, which also did such bespoke work for Bumpus booksellers. Our former owner, W. A. Foyle (1885-1963), was himself a bookseller on Charing Cross Road, where he co-founded with his brother the famous Foyle's Bookshop. Foyle was an avid and discriminating collector whose three large sales at Christie's held in 2000 were a bibliophilic highlight of the new century. The sum of $19 million for which William Foyle's personal library sold in July set a record for private European collections. No. 326 OF 350 COPIES (this one of 300 on Holland paper; there were also 50 on Japon).

235 x 164 mm. (9 1/4 x 6 1/2"). 84 pp., [1] leaf. ELEGANT CONTEMPORARY DARK BLUE MOROCCO, EXTRAVAGANTLY GILT, IN THE STYLE OF THE DOVES BINDERY, gilt, covers with strapwork frame, daisy cornerpieces, two medallions at center in an intricate Celtic knot design, raised bands, spine compartments with guilloche tooling, gilt lettering, turn-ins ruled in gilt with strapwork loops at corners, all edges gilt and gauffered with rows of dots. Three fine capitals engraved by Noel Rooke and Eric Gill after Edward Johnston. Printed in red and black. Tidcombe DP-18; Tomkinson, p.56; Gill 307. For the binding: Tidcombe, "The Doves Bindery," Appendix III, pp. 458-65. Mild offsetting from turn-ins (as uaual), one opening with barely perceptible horizontal darkening along tail margin, but A BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL COPY INSIDE AND OUT. This Doves Press version of Shakespeare's Sonnets is based on the text of the first edition of 1609 and is printed in celebration of the 300th anniverary of their first appearance. The volume is a very pleasing example of the "Book Beautiful" as envisioned by press founders T. J. Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker: a desirable text rendered with reserved elegance and exquisite taste in Walker's stately Doves type. Cobden-Sanderson was a perfectionist, and finding that he had inadvertently printed an extraneous comma in the first sonnet, he covered over by hand every extra comma in every copy, using an early form of correction fluid. The correction is just visible in our volume (after the word "aboundance"). The engraving Gill did on the initials here is among the very earliest of his recorded work. Our binding is not signed, but was clearly inspired by Doves Bindery examples. The navy crushed morocco, the elaborate but tasteful design, and the precise tooling are all characteristic of Doves work. While the tools and pattern do not match any of those in Tidcombe's comprehensive study of the bindery, the open petals in the cornerpieces are similar to Doves tools, just as the use of strapwork is common in Cobden-Sanderson bindings. Tidcombe documents counterfeit Doves bindings in her book, and notes several common features. Like ours, all of the fake bindings are on Doves Press books and all are bound in dark blue morocco. But they differ from our binding in that they all use a stamp-signed Doves Bindery signature. She considers unsigned bindings in the Doves style copies, rather than forgeries. All that being said, it seems possible that our binding was created by an artisan who had studied with Cobden-Sanderson and who was much influenced by his bindings. ONE OF 250 COPIES ON PAPER (and 15 copies on vellum).

200 x 158 mm. (8 x 6 1/4"). li, [iii], 128 pp., [1] leaf.Edited and with an introduction by Israel Gollancz. ELEGANT DARK NAVY BLUE MOROCCO, GILT, BY DE SAUTY (stamp-signed in gilt on front turn-in), WITH ELABORATE GILT FLORAL TOOLING AND VERY MANY ONLAID CITRON MOROCCO FLOWERS forming a quatrefoil design on lower cover, and a broad, encroaching frame on the upper cover, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with gilt floral designs, gilt lettering, all edges gilt (expertly rejointed). With numerous black & white illustrations (including some full-page and a few double-page) throughout by Robert Anning Bell. Spine slightly dulled, text a bit browned at edges because of paper quality, otherwise fine, the beautifully decorated covers lustrous and without signs of use. This charming illustrated edition of Shakespeare's fanciful comedy comes in a beautifully decorated binding that calls to mind the floral bower where the fairy Queen Titania entertains Bottom in "Dream's" unforgettable play-within-a-play. In this printing of the work, the great Shakespeare scholar Israel Gollancz (1863-1930) presents "this wonderful fairy-tale told three-hundred years ago by the greatest of story-tellers" without "those terrible Notes" added by Johnson, Theobald, and Steevens. A strong advocate for making Shakespeare accessible to a wider public, he offers in an introduction a brief synopsis of the action, including a diagram explaining the shifting affections between Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena, and provides a glossary of unfamiliar or antiquated words at the end. The reader is free to enjoy the beauty of the poetry, accented by Bell's delightful illustrations. The enjoyment of our copy is particularly enhanced by its wonderfully decorated binding. One of the most accomplished binders at work in the first third of the 20th century, Alfred de Sauty (1870-1949) was the son of an engineer who had studied that discipline himself before taking up bookbinding, and he brings an engineer's precision to his handiwork. He not only possessed enormous technical skill (he made his own tools), but also had a refined imagination for design. He began his career as a finisher for the renowned Riviere bindery, and after leaving their employ in the late 1890s, he worked as a designer at the Hampstead bindery; in her essay "The Mysterious Mr. De Sauty," binding authority Marianne Tidcombe observes, "De Sauty was responsible for some of the best designs of the two binderies, and carried out all the stages of the craft himself, from sewing to the designing and exceptionally delicate tooling of the covers." Nixon and Prideaux both praise the brilliance of his finishing skills. In 1922, De Sauty left England for America: he had been recruited to become the manager of the Extra Bindery at RR Donnelly Co. in Chicago, where he did much to raise the standards of hand bookbinding in the United States.

FIRST EDITION. 233 x 143 mm. (9 1/8 x 5 3/4"). 2 p.l., v, [3], 206 pp., [1] leaf (ads). HANDSOME SCARLET MOROCCO BY RIVIERE & SON (stamp-signed on front turn-in), front cover WITH FIVE MINIATURE PORTRAITS OF SHAKESPEARE on ivory under glass ALMOST CERTAINLY BY MISS C. B. CURRIE, surrounded by delicate gilt tooling, rear cover and spine compartments framed by double gilt fillets, raised bands, gilt lettering to two compartments, gilt-ruled turn-ins, olive green silk endleaves, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. In a maroon fleece-lined slipcase. With five engraved plates reproducing portraits of Shakespeare. Jaggard, pp. 586-87. Slight wear to silk endleaves at front hinge, isolated small printing smudges or other trivial defects, final leaf (ads) with short closed tear at head, otherwise A VERY FINE COPY, the text with no signs of use, and the splendid binding in perfect condition. This analysis of portraits purporting to depict Shakespeare is the perfect vehicle for a Cosway binding, used here to present the leading contenders on the front cover (these likenesses also appear on engraved plates in the book). The portrait at the center of our cover is considered the most authoritative, being that done by Martin Droeshout for the First Folio of 1623. The other portraits shown in the plates and in the miniatures are the Chandos Head, the Stratford Bust, the engraving by W. Marshall from the 1640 edition of the poems, and the Jansen portrait of 1610. A Shakespeare scholar who raised the alarm about forgeries of Shakespeare manuscripts in the 1790s, Boaden (1762-1839) sets forth here (as indicated in the preface) "a careful examination of the evidence" by which "the pretended portraits have been rejected, [and] the genuine confirmed and established." The so-called "Cosway" binding, with painted miniatures inlaid in handsome morocco--either inside or (as here) on the outside of the front cover--apparently originated with the London bookselling firm of Henry Sotheran about 1909. In that year, G. C. Williamson's 1905 book entitled "Richard Cosway" (which celebrated the career of this leading Georgian and Regency miniature painter) was remaindered by Sotheran and presumably given this special decorative treatment in order to boost sales. The name "Cosway" then was used to describe any book so treated, whatever its subject. The finest miniatures on Cosway bindings were executed by Caroline Billin Currie (1849-1940), who is known to have created such paintings for Sotheran's from 1910 until her death, usually from designs by J. H. Stonehouse, and typically for bindings executed, as here, by Riviere. Not present in this volume is an inserted leaf acknowledging Currie's work--something normally seen with Cosway bindings featuring her miniatures; but she has a distinctive deftness to her brush strokes and a recognizably refined execution that are clearly present here. The precision and detail of these portraits, and the wonderfully expressive eyes are hallmarks of her work.

The Royal Library Belles Lettres Series. 188 x 120 mm. (6 1/2 x 5"). 2 p.l., 204 pp. VERY PRETTY DARK BROWN CRUSHED MOROCCO, GILT, BY ZAEHNSDORF (stamp-signed and dated 1907 on front turn-in), covers with gilt-rule frame and elaborate cornerpieces of floral sprays on a densely stippled ground, raised bands, spine compartments with heavily stippled frame enclosing a lozenge containing a floral spring, gilt titling, turn-ins richly gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. First initial of each poem printed in red. Spine gently (and uniformly) sunned to a lighter shade (as is often the case with brown morocco), but AN ESPECIALLY FINE COPY, PRISTINE INTERNALLY, and in an unworn binding. Virtually unchanged from the day it left the press, this charming collection of the Bard's sonnets and the songs from his plays comes in a lovely, precisely tooled binding by one of the great English workshops. In his history "The Zaehnsdorfs (1842-1947)," Broomhead points out that "few firms of craft bookbinders . . . can claim an existence of longer than 100 years," and throughout its history, the Zaehnsdorf bindery has continued to produce consistently attractive and innovative designs executed with unfailing skill. The immaculate condition of this volume suggests that it was a treasured gift appreciated for its beauty and never subjected to use.

ONE OF 325 COPIES. 190 x 135 mm. (7 1/2 x 5 1/2"). 1 p.l. (blank), 3-32 pp. FINE MODERN BLIND-STAMPED DARK GREEN CRUSHED MOROCCO BY ANN THORNTON (stamped with her gilt monogram on rear pastedown), covers divided diagonally into four quadrants, each containing a leafy branch on a pebbled background, smooth spine with vertical gilt titling, blue paste-paper endpapers and rice paper flyleaves, all edges gilt. In a sturdy slipcase covered with handmade paper. Initials and titles printed in blue. Ransom, p. 11. A PRISTINE COPY. Offered here in an immaculate Designer binding, this is an attractively printed selection of 25 beloved sonnets from the press founded to produce a complete edition of Shakespeare's works in the Bard's hometown. Established by A. H. Bullen in 1904, the Shakespeare Head Press was acquired by Oxford book dealer Basil Blackwell after Bullen's death in 1920, and operated by printer and typographer Bernard Newdigate, under whose direction it "began to produce finely printed and designed books in the private press tradition." (Oxford Companion to the Book) Binder Ann Thornton was elected a licentiate of Designer Bookbinders in 1992 and a Fellow in 1995. She prefers traditional methods and materials for her work, which is represented in the British Library, the Royal Library of Copenhagen, and many private collections.