amish moving day

i love this book...i forgot to photograph a charming bookplate too. the 3 color silkscreen illustrations are lovely. the book is letterpress in its entirety, even the illustrations...which appear to be first letterpress and then silkscreened (although here it is recorded that they are 4 color engravings, hmmm). all in all wonderful, and i'm glad to have it.

amish moving day by ella maie seyfert
first edition, 1942, thomas y. crowell company, new york
illustrated by henrietta jones

happy hours

if you look closely at the cover of this book, happy hours, you can see the dog is rolling in a cart of cheap cats' meat into the cats' section of town. it's always a scuffle between cats and dogs, no? this letterpress book is darling, the illustrations are magical.

happy hours
happy hours series, c. 1905, m.a. donohue & co., chicago

stories for alice

this is another grab bag book. the illustrations within are engravings in tints. it is also stereotyped (aka letterpress). the frames are amazing! they are by far my favorite thing about the book, although it is charming as a whole. it is all poems.

stories for alice by anna sharpless brown
1853, henry longstreth, philadelphia
illustrator not credited

gardener's magic and other old wives' lore

i love this book...it's another that i first spotted and thought may be a peter pauper press book. it's not, and it's totally lovely all on its own (and quite rare i think).

the whole book is letterpress printed with medieval illustrations taken from the hortus sanitatis and john gerard's herball.

written by bridget boland who researched and researched to find some interesting and esoteric information.

gardener's magic and other old wives' lore by bridget boland
1977, the bodley head, london

collections

i've been getting emails asking if i sell books...and the answer is "i do!" i don't usually sell the books that i feature here on rad library because i don't want this to be a commerce blog, but rather an expression of my love for these books. i will be featuring from time to time though, books that i sell, although primarily because i sell books that i think are beautiful or wonderful in some such way. these collections are an example of that.

i've seen very few book covers as beautiful as great pictures described by great writers...the design is just fabulous, and with very little fading too. one of the pleasures of collecting and resourcing books is the little gems that are sometimes tucked within, such as this pressed plant. it's fun to imagine how it found its home here, on a walk in a park, maybe a gift from a friend.
both of these books are rare and great references for the cerebrally inclined. last image is the second book.

great pictures: as seen and described by great writers
edited and translated by esther singleton
rare and letterpress printed, 1901, dodd, mead and co., new york

lectures on the history of english literature by professor william marvel nevin, ll.d.
edited by rev. theodore appel, d.d.
a memorial volume, 1895, intelligencer printing office, lancaster, pa
rare and letterpress printed

justine

i love this book! or should i say, i love the illustrations in this book, which are by artist mahlon blaine. i got this edition of the marquis de sade's justine at an antiquarian book dealer for more money than i would have paid normally ($35)...and it was worth it. the cover silhouette is fantastic and the chapter illustrations are all very unusual. i've included some of the more tame of them, although they really aren't all that far out. i also love the original owner's book plate...florence henderson...wouldn't it be funny if this book belonged to mrs. brady? of course 1933 (as inscribed) was a bit before her time.

funny thing is there is a note, as follows: "the editor, an amiable old gentleman devoted to hearth and home, living in the bosom of a happy family, highly disapproves of most of the characters in this novel; and in no way can he identify himself with their words or actions." this and justine is much more a novel than any of sade's other works, and was therefore uncharacteristically mild for the marquis.

justine: or the misfortunes of virtue
by the marquis de sade (originally written in 1791)
1931 (by harold berman), the risus press
illustrated by mahlon blaine
letterpress

der kinder gebet von ottilie wildermuth

i just got this great little antique letterpress german book at a local antiques mall...it's missing all of its illustrations besides two, and appears to have been rebound, but i love the typeface. lucky find, me thinks! it also has an interesting and mysterious yugoslavian inscription. as far as i can translate (which means don't quote me :) it's two children's stories 'the children's prayer' and 'late luck' by ottilie wildermuth, who was known for her stories for young folks...

der kinder gebet & spätes glück: zwei erzählungen für die judend von ottilie wildermuth
c. 1840 (not dated), reutlingen, printed by rob. bartenschlager

virginibus puerisque

this is such an odd little book. it's bound totally in paper, hand bound with letterpress pages and is really a treat. this copy has seen its better days. it was published in maine by thomas b. mosher in 1904. "virginibus puerisque" means 'for girls and boys' and is only one of a collection of essays included in the volume. these essays were written by robert louis stevenson (best known for treasure island) concerning life's keystones and are pretty much a manifesto of his personal feelings. i consider this book to be one of the gems of my collection!

virginibus puerisque: and other papers by robert louis stevenson
1904, thomas b. mosher, portland

collections

another collection, this time just two...they are linked because of their gilded spines, they are both victorian and both were published by thomas y. crowell & co., as well as, a snazzy illustrated cover page with tissue separator. they are both lovely books, particularly l'avril which i think is letterpress, and has beautiful illustrations throughout. it's also in top notch condition.

l'avril by paul margueritte
translated by helen b. dole
1st edition, 1895, thomas y. crowell & co., new york
illustrator not credited

~this book also has its original red ribbon bookmark!

tales from shakespeare
compiled and abridged by charles and mary lamb
handy volume classics, c. 1878, thomas y. crowell & co., new york