Alexander Anderson has long been considered the father of wood engraving in America, being the first in this country to adopt the technique developed in England by Thomas Bewick. Wood engraving produces a finer image than the standard woodcut by working on the denser end-grain section of the wood. Anderson acknowledged his debt to Bewick in 1804 by creating an American edition of Bewick’s A General History of Quadrupeds (1790) with his own re-engraved blocks, adding “some American animals not hitherto described.” A General History of Quadrupeds was really the result of an increasing popular interest in natural history towards the end of the 18th century. Evidence of this interest can be seen by other notable publications at the time such as Gilbert Whiteís Natural History of Selborne (1789) and the wonderful works of Thomas Pennant, whose own General History of Quadrupeds in two volumes, illustrated with fine copper engravings, had first appeared in 1781.

Description: Hard bound in full leather. Stated “First American edition, with an appendix containing some American Animals not hitherto described”. Printed by G. & R Waite, No. 64, Maiden – Lane. 1804.  531 pages with hundreds of woodcuts by Anderson. Wear and deterioration to leather. Front board detached, but present. Missing front free end pages to title page. Minor foxing throughout. Head and tail chipped, with text block and binding tight. A scarce copy of a classic of natural history, and wood block illustration.

Bookseller Inventory # 24322

A General History of Quadrupeds:
The Figures Engraved on Wood, Chiefly Copied from
the Original of T. Bewick, By A. Anderson
Anderson, A.

SOLD

· Category: Sold ·

Christian Dior was arguably the most important fashion designer of the twentieth century. One of a handful of designers who dominated 20th century fashion along with Coco Chanel, Paul Poiret & Yves Saint Laurent. His career was launched in 1947 with his very first collection, in which he introduced the “New Look“. Featuring rounded shoulders, a cinched waist, and very full skirt, the New Look celebrated ultra-femininity and opulence. After years of military and civilian uniforms, sartorial restrictions and shortages, Dior offered not merely a new look but a new outlook. While the House of Dior is still a thriving business today, Dior’s untimely death in 1957 left the fashion world without a great dictator of style. Christian Dior designed under his own name for only a decade, but his influence will be felt for many years to come.

TRUE FRENCH FIRST EDITION INSCRIBED BY CHRISTIAN DIOR!
( and signed with his customary “Tian Dior” )

Description: Hard bound with 1/2 jacket wrapped around, as issued. 238 pages with 12 B/W photographs. Text in French. Moire-type pink endpapers. Gray cloth boards with title stamped in black to upper spine edge. Preface de Pierre Gaxotte de l’Academie Francaise. Some minor soiling and wear to edges of cloth boards. Band shows two minor chips, otherwise good. A RARE COPY – inscribed by one of the most influential designers of the last century!

Bookseller Inventory # 19327

SOLD

Christian Dior et Moi
Dior, Christian

Publisher: Editons Amiot-Dumont, Paris
Publication Date: 1956
Binding: Hard Bound
Book Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Good
Edition: First Edition

· Category: Sold ·

Henry Miller was an American novelist and painter known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of ‘novel’ that is a mixture of autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association. Tropic of Capricorn continues the autobiographical exploration of the self Miller began in Tropic of Cancer, recounting, in his characteristically brutal and forthright style. Banned on grounds of obscenity, copies of Tropic of Capricorn were smuggled into his native country, building Miller an underground reputation.

“I believe that today more than ever a book should be sought after even if it has only one great page in it: we must search for fragments, splinters, toenails, anything that has ore in it, anything that is capable of resuscitating the body and soul. It may be that we are doomed, that there is no hope for us, any of us, but if that is so then let us set up a last agonizing, bloodcurdling howl, a screech of defiance, a war whoop! Away with lamentation! Away with elegies and dirges! Away with biographies and histories, and libraries and museums! Let the dead eat the dead. Let us living ones dance about the rim of the crater, a last expiring dance. But a dance!” – Henry Miller

Description: Paris: Obelisk Press, 1939. Octavo, original wrappers. Now in custom red cloth clam shell box. First Edition, First issue, with 60 FR price and errata slip. Original wrappers; one of only 1000 copies printed. Some wear and minor chipping to wrappers, otherwise very good. RARE!

Bookseller Inventory # 21756

SOLD

Tropic of Capricorn
Miller, Henry

Publisher: Obelisk Press, Paris
Publication Date: 1939
Binding: Paperback
Book Condition: Very Good
Edition: First edition

· Category: Sold ·

Robert Capa was one of the important war photographers of the twentieth century. He was a storyteller par excellence, and the combination of his photographs, and his account of personal adventure, make this one of the most sought after photobooks ever published. It was cited as one of the 101 seminal photographic books of the 20th Century by Andrew Roth. There are halftone photographs throughout, some full-page and others smaller, taken in Europe and North Africa from the summer of 1942 until the end of the war. After covering five wars, Capa stepped on a landmine in Vietnam in 1954 and died at age 41, the first American correspondent killed in Vietnam.

Description: Hard bound with price clipped dust jacket. Orange cloth covered boards, with titles in black. Capa’s account of his experiences as a photographer on the European and North African fronts during the Second World War. General shelf wear to boards, and slight age toning to pages. Interior clean and binding tight. The dust jacket shows wear, tears and large chips. Now protected in clear removable Brodart protective cover. Scarce!

Bookseller Inventory #31651

SOLD

Slightly Out Of Focus
Cappa, Robert

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Publication Date: 1947
Binding:Hard Bound
Book Condition: Very Good
Jacket Condition: Good
Edition: First edition

· Category: Sold ·

Noel Coward was recognized on both sides of the Atlantic as the personification of wit and sophistication. Successful as a composer, lyricist, actor, singer, director, novelist, painter he achieved enduring success as a playwright, publishing more than 50 plays. Many of his works, such as Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit, have remained in the regular theatre repertoire. He composed hundreds of songs, in addition to well over a dozen musical works (including the operetta Bitter Sweet and comic revues), poetry, several volumes of short stories, the novel Pomp and Circumstance, along with a three-volume autobiography. Coward won an Academy Honorary Award in 1943 for his naval film drama, In Which We Serve, and was knighted in 1969.

Description: Hard bound with dust jacket. INSCRIBED BY NOEL COWARD on the front free endpage ” For Arnold with love, Noel Coward”. The author’s first novel about The Queen and Prince Philip paying a visit to Samoa. Dust jacket painting by Noel Coward. Edge wear to dust jacket and one small chip, otherwise very good. Interior clean and binding tight.

Bookseller Inventory# 22971

SOLD

Pomp and Circumstance
Coward, Noel

Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: 1960
Binding: Hard Bound
Book Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Good
Signed: Inscribed by Author
Edition: First U. S. Edition

· Category: Sold ·