/Collection
  • A footed double-gourd porcelain bottle with iron and gold coloured crackle on grey background. China, the Qianlong period (1711 – 1799) of the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912). Diameter: 12 cm; Height: 21 cm.
  • A two-volume set. Vol. 1:

    Title: LA | GERUSALEMME | LIBERATA | DI | TORQUATO TASSO | Tomo Primo | {vignette} | IN PARIGI | M.DCC.LXXI | Appreßo { Agostino Delalain. | Pietro Durand. | Gio: Claudio Molini. | Droüet ∫crip.

    Pagination: ffl [1] 2-331 [332] bfl; illustrations after Gravelot: frontis. by Henriquez, t.p. vignette by Patas, engraved dedication by Le Roy, 10 head- and 7 tailpieces by Le Roy, 5 full-page vignettes by Le Roy, and 10 plates by: Baquoy, Duclos (3), Le Roy, Lingée, Née, Rousseau, and Simonet (2).

    Collation: 8vo; A-V8 X6.

    Vol. 2:  Title: LA | GERUSALEMME | LIBERATA | DI | TORQUATO TASSO | Tomo Secondo | {vignette} | IN PARIGI | M.DCC.LXXI | Appreßo { Agostino Delalain. | Pietro Durand. | Gio: Claudio Molini. | Droüet ∫crip. Pagination: ffl [1] 2-340 bfl; illustrations after Gravelot: frontis. by Henriquez, t.p. vignette by Mesnil, 10 head- and 6 tailpieces by Le Roy, 4 full-page vignettes by Le Roy, tailpiece by Ponce, and 10 plates by: Duclos, Henriquez, Leveau, Lingée, Massard, Née, Patas, Ponce, Rousseau, and Simonet. Collation: 8vo; A-X8 Y2. Size: 21.5 x 14.5 cm. Size of the copy sold at Sotheby's in 2015: 23.3 x 14.0 cm; Christie's in 2008: 23.2 x 14.4 cm Page size: 21 x 13.5 cm. In referenced sources, the page size is bigger than that. N. Ray gives 11 ½  x 8 7  inches or 9 x 5½ inches. Cohen and De Ricci do not bother to give sizes, considering that octavo is octavo. MFA: 30.3 x 23.1 x 4 cm (11 15/16 x 9 1/8 x 1 9/16 in.) Binding: Two volumes uniformly bound in full marbled calf, ruled in gilt, flat spine with gilt decorations and monogram, cream lettered label. Geoffrey Lord Cross of Chelsea [Geoffrey Cross, Baron Cross of Chelsea] (British, 1904 – 1989) bookplate to front pastedown. Catalogue raisonné: N. Ray №22, p. 48; Cohen De Ricci 974-975 According to MFA printing by: François-Augustin Quillau (French, 1743–1804). This edition was illustrated by Hubert François Gravelot (French, 1699–1773) and engraved by the following engravers: Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721–1777) Antoine Jean Duclos (French, 1742–1795) Benoît Louis Henriquez (French, 1732–1806) Jean Jacques André Le Veau (French, 1729–1785) Charles Louis Lingée (French, 1748–1819) Jacques Le Roy (French, born in 1739) Jean Massard (1740–1822) Elie du Mesnil (French, born about 1728) François Denis Née (French, 1735–1818) Charles Emmanuel Jean Baptiste Patas (French, 1744–1802) Nicholas Ponce (French, 1746–1831) Jean François Rousseau (French, born in 1740) Jean Baptiste Simonet (French, 1742–1813) Droüet (French, 18th century)
  • Publisher's brown cloth stamped in gilt, in a slipcase, 19 x 14 cm; pp.: [11]  1-657 [1] 1-12 [6]; in Japanese. With full English translation published in 1982 on letter-size writing paper in a separate folder, 29.5 x 23 cm, pp. [2] i-iii, 1-197, 1-52, 1-3. "Kinkō Meikan is a collection of photographs of signatures that appear on the tsuba and other fittings of the Japanese sword".
  • Title: OXFORD EDITION | POPULAR STORIES | COLLECTED BY | THE BROTHERS GRIMM | A REPRINT OF THE FIRST ENGLISH EDITION | WITH TWENTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS | BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK | {publisher’s device} | HENRY FROWDE | LONDON, EDINBURGH, GLASGOW | NEW YORK AND TORONTO | 1905 || Pagination: [i, ii] – frontis., [iii-iv]– t.p. / imprint. [v] – preface, vi-xvii [xviii blank], [2] [1] 2-403 [404], plates included in pagination, pp. 379-403 – notes. Collation: a8 b2 B-Z8 Aa-Cc8 Dd2. Binding:1 9 x 13 cm, olive green cloth blind-stamped in art nouveau style and lettered in gilt to cover and spine: GRIMMS’ POPULAR STORIES. Aubergine pencil inscription to front pastedown: C. Grant Robertson | All Souls | 1905: Provenance: Sir Charles Grant Robertson CVO (British, 1869 – 1948) who was a British academic historian, a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and Vice-chancellor of the University of Birmingham.
  • Cover and title page: Н. Л. | ФРАН-МАСОНСТВО | И | ГОСУДАРСТВЕННАЯ ИЗМѢНА. | Изданiе В. П. | С.-ПЕТЕРБУРГЪ | Типографиiя газеты «Россiя». Бассейная, 3. | 1906 г. || Pagination: [1-3] 4-77 [3]; collation: [1]8 2-58; 23 x 15.5 cm, in publisher’s lettered wrappers, library and bookstore stamps. A reprint of an article published in № 4 of the magazine "Море и его Жизнь", January 1905. Allegedly a translation and a brief exposition of La franc-maçonnerie et la Révolution française by Maurice Talmeyr [Marie-Justin-Maurice Coste] (French, – 
  • Binding: 25. 3 x 19.5 cm, light blue cloth, black labels with gilt lettering to cover and spine. Title: Dictionary of | Victorian | Wood Engravers | {fleuron} | Rodney K Engen | Chadwyck-Healey || Pagination: frontispiece; [i-iv] v-xxi [2] 3-297 [298]. Author’s signature dated 1987 to recto frontis.
  • Iron tsuba of mokko form decorated with arabesque (karakusa) in low relief carving. niku from 4.0 mm in the centre to 5.1 mm at the rim. Strong Nobuie [信家] signature (futoji-mei) to the left of nakago-ana. Hitsuana plugged with pewter.

    Size: H: 88.2 mm, W: 83.6, Th(c): 4.0 mm, Th(r): 5.1 mm Weight: 167 g.

    Signed: Nobuie [信家]

    Probably the work of Nidai Nobuie (c. 1600).

    Tokubetsu hozon certificate № 229324 of the N.B.T.H.K., dated 22.12.2010
  • Cover: МОРИС ДОМАНЖЕ | БЛАНКИ | РАБОЧЕЕ ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО “ПРИБОЙ” | ЛЕНИНГРАД 1925 || Title page: МОРИС ДОМАНЖЕ | БЛАНКИ | Пер. с французского | Рабочее Издательство “ПРИБОЙ” | Ленинград 1925 || Pagination: [2] 3-97 [3]. Collation: 8vo; [1]8 2-68 [7]2, total 50 leaves. Binding: Publisher’s wrappers, lettering to covers and spine, uncut. Contributor: Maurice Dommanget (French, 1888 – 1976) – author. Translation of: Blanqui par Maurice Dommanget. — Paris: Librairie de l'Humanité, 1924.
  • Title page: The Mathematical Theory | Of Communication | By CLAUDE E. SHANNON | and WARREN WEAVER | THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS: URBANA | 1949 || Pagination: [8] [2] 3-117 [3 blanks]. Size: 23.5 x 16 cm Binding: Publisher’s burgundy cloth, silver lettering to spine, yellow pictorial DJ with lettering: THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF | COMMUNICATION | {8 lines of text} {graph} | CLAUDE SHANNON   WARREN WEAVER || Contributors: Shannon, Claude Elwood (American, 1916 – 2001) Weaver, Warren (American, 1894 – 1978)
  • Cover and title, in green and black: VINGT CONTES | DE BOCCACE / TRADUITS DE L’ITALIEN |PAR | ANTOINE LE MAÇON | ILLUSTRATIONS DE | BRUNELLESCHI | {vignette} | GIBERT JEUNE | LIBRAIRIE D’AMATEURS | 61, BOULEVARD SAINT-MICHEL, 61 | PARIS || Pagination : [4] 1-165 [7] with 19 black head- and tailpieces, plus 16 colour plates extraneous to collation, incl. frontispiece, printed by J. Dumoulin and stencil-coloured (au pochoir) by E. Charpentier after gouache and watercolour drawings by Umberto Brunelleschi, plus 2 blank flyleaves; total 106 leaves. Limited edition of 3,000 copies, this is № 1630. Printed by Louis Malexis at Imprimerie J. Dumoulin, Paris (H. Barthélemy, director) on May 28, 1941. Binding: 20.5 x 13.5 cm, publisher’s pictorial wrappers, vignettes and lettering to front wrapper and spine, publisher’s device to back wrapper. Contributors: Giovanni Boccaccio (Italian, 1313 – 1375) – author Antoine Le Maçon (French, c. 1500 – 1559) – translator Umberto Brunelleschi (Italian, 1879 – 1949) – artist Joseph Dumoulin (French, 1875 – 1953) – printer The first, 2-volume limited edition (2,500 copies) of Les Contes de Boccace Decameron (les cinq premières journées, les cinq dernières journées) was published by Gibert Jeune, Librairie d’Amateurs in 1934 with 70 black and 32 colour designs after Brunelleschi – see [LIB-2813.2021]. Description of the stensil (au pochoir) technique.
  • Six shot 11-millimetre Lefaucheux Brevete M-1854 single-action pin-fire revolver, serial #34755. French large calibre revolver features octagon to round barrel, non-fluted cylinder, walnut grips with the heavy pommel.

    Manufactured in Paris.

    Dimensions: L: 29.5 cm; H: 15.5 cm; Barrel: 16 cm.
  • Pictorial album of 20 hand-coloured wood engravings by Firmin Gillot after Alfred Grévin; numbered 1 to 20, bound with tissue guards in half-brown cloth over marbled boards, publisher's gilt-lettered blue wrappers preserved, purple-blueish endpapers. Front wrapper (gilt on blue): LES FILLES D'EVE | ALBUM | DE TRAVESTISSEMENTS | PLUS OU MOINS | HISTORIQUES | Par A. GRÉVIN | — | PARIS | AUX BUREAUX : DU JOURNAL AMUSANT, DES MODES PARISIENNES | DE LA TOILETTE DE PARIS ET DU PETIT JOURNAL POUR RIRE | 20. Rue Bergère. || ; Henri Plon's imprint to back wrapper. Contributors: Grevin, Alfred (French, 1827 – 1892) Gillot, Firmin (French, 1820 – 1872) Plon, Henri (French, 1806 – 1872) Ref.: Metropoliten Museum.
  • Title-page: DORAT | LES BAISERS | PRÉCÉDÉS | DU MOIS DE MAI | POÈME | COMPOSITIONS ORIGINALES | DE | BRUNELLESCHI | EDDIS | 1947 || Description: 23.3 x 19 cm, French slapped wrappers, sunned and heavy foxed, without a slipcase; [1-6] (h.t. with owner’s inscription / limitation with № 18, t.p., d.t.p.),  7-137 [138] [6] (colophon) plus 23 stencil-coloured (au pochoir) photogravure plates after Umberto Brunelleschi, his head- and tailpieces (total 60 designs). Printed by Gaston Maillet & Cie in Saint-Ouen on April 15, 1947. Photogravure by Deberni and Peignot under direction of R. Perrot. Limitation: 3,000 copies numbered 1 to 3,000 of which 500 copies on Vélin de Luxe (1–500) enriched with two suites of plates, one in colour and one toned, before letters; 2,500 on Vélin de Fabrication Spéciale of which copies numbered 500–1,000 enriched with one suite before letters, and 2,000 copies numbered 1,001–3,000. Besides, there are 200 additional copies numbered with Roman numbers reserved for foreign bibliophiles. This particular copy bears number 18, however, I don’t think it is printed on Vélin de Luxe, whatever it is, and does not have an extra suite of plates. Owner’s inscription pasted to h.t.: A Denise ce livre audacieux | mais qui par son art sait | tout faire pardonner — | Jane Darboy. Provenance: Jane Darboy (French, fl. 1932 – 1948) – a French writer.
  • Title-page (turquoise and black): WILLY ET COLETTE WILLY | CLAUDINE | A L'ECOLE | ILLUSTRATIONS DE SUZANNE BALLIVET | ÉDITIONS DU HOUBLON | BRUXELLES || Front wrapper: WILLY ET COLETTE WILLY | {vignette} | ILLUSTRATIONS DE SUZANNE | CLAUDINE | A L'ÉCOLE || Description: French flapped wrappers, 21 x 14.5 cm, lettered front wrapper and spine, in glassine dustcover, paginated [1-8] 9-242 [6], 248 pages total, plus 8 photomechanical reproductions in colour after Suzanne Ballivet. Contributors: Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette [a.k.a. Colette] (French, 1873 – 1954) – author. Henry Gauthier-Villars [a.k.a. Willy] (French, 1859 – 1931) – author. Suzanne Ballivet (French, 1904 – 1985) – artist.
  • Lithography on paper by Charles Fichot (French, 1817 – 1903), published in a supplement to the Illustrated London News of July 6, 1867.

    The construction on the foreground is the International Exposition of 1867 (Exposition universelle d'art et d'industrie de 1867). Dimensions: Sheet: 130 x 58 cm; Image: 118 x 43 cm.
  • Description: Two volumes, collated 4to, usually described as 12mo, 16.5 x 10.5 cm each, uniformly bound in full calf, bordered in gilt with a triple-fillet over blind dentelle, flat spine ornamented in gilt with two crimson labels, gilt dentelle inside, blue marbled endpapers with previous owner bookplate to front pastedown in each vol.: "W. E. A. MACDONNELL. | NEW HALL | Co. of Clare.", and a ticket in a blue border “162”. Illustrated by T. Bewick after J. Thurston with frontispiece portrait of Robert Burns, numerous woodcut endpieces and a total of 14 full-page woodcut vignettes throughout. Title-page: THE | POETICAL WORKS | OF | ROBERT BURNS; | WITH HIS LIFE | ORNAMENTED WITH | ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD BY MR. BEWICK | FROM ORIGINAL DESIGNS BY MR. THURSTON. | — | IN TWO VOLUMES. | VOL I. (VOL. II.) | — | ALNWICK: | Printed by William Davison. | SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND | AND IRELAND. | – | 1808. || Vol. 1: Collation: π3 (1st blank, engraved frontispiece portrait of R. Burns, t.p.), a2 b-e4, A-Z4, 2A-2E4 (2E)4 (last two blank); total 137 leaves, numerous endpieces and 9 woodcut plates by Thomas Bewick after John Thurston within collation. Pagination: [2 blank] [i-v] 6 (i.e. vi) xlii [43-45] 46-268 (265-268 marked 263–266, respectively, [4 blank]; total 274 pages, of which 6 blank (pagination by Hugo: xlii, 297, 26), full-page plates opposite to pp. 73, 82, 106, 127, 141, 178, 192, 213, 219. Vol. 2: Collation: π5 (1st blank, t.p., 3 leaves of contents), A-B4 (C omitted) D-Z4, 2A-2G4 (2H omitted) 2I2 2K-2M4 2N1 χ2; total 138 leaves, numerous endpieces and 6 woodcut plates by Thomas Bewick after John Thurston within collation. Pagination: [2 blank] [i-iii] iv-xi (v marked vii, viii marked ix), 12-270 (16 marked 17, 76 marked 67, 84 marked 86, 96 marked 90, 112 marked 110, 203-207 marked 205-209, 220-224 marked 222-226), [4 blank]; total 276 pages, of which 6 blank (pagination by Hugo: xii, 320), full-page plates opposite to pp. 11, 40, 70, 191, 221. Catalogue raisonné: Hugo (1866): № 230, v. 1, p. 92-93; according to Hugo, the year 1808 was not stated, the number of pages in each volume is different to my copy. Provenance: Colonel William Edward Armstrong-Macdonnell (Irish, 1858 – 1883) of New Hall, Ennis, County Clare, Ireland (presumed). Contributors: Robert Burns (Scottish, 1759 – 1796) – author. Thomas Bewick (British, 1753 – 1828) – engraver. John Thurston (British, 1774 – 1822) – artist. William Davison (British, 1781 – 1858) – printer/publisher.
  • One of five fan prints from the series The Pride of Edo Compared to the Five Elements [Edo jiman mitate gogyo]. Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige [歌川 広重] a.k.a. Andō Hiroshige [安藤 広重] (Japanese, 1797 – 1858). Publisher: Ibaya Kyubei [伊場屋 久兵衛] (Japanese, fl. 1804 – 1851). Signed: Hiroshige ga Censor’s seal: Muramatsu Publisher's seal: Kinseido (Ibaya Kyubei) The text in the fan-shaped cartouche reads: "Water: The Square Aqueduct that Crosses by Suido Bridge Suggests the comparison of Ochanomizu to Water [Mizu: Ochanomizu josui no himasu Suidobashi areba gogyo no uchi mizu ni nazorau]". Ref: Rupert Faulkner. Hiroshige Fan Prints. Victoria and Albert Museum. Far Eastern Series. Hardcover - Harry N. Abrams, Inc. - 2001 [LIB-1344.2017] № 22, p. 51. Comment from Sebastian Izzard: This series of five prints features full-length figures of women set in landscapes around Edo compared to the five natural elements: fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. A preparatory drawing for the “Wood” image, featuring a woman crossing a bridge in the snow at the timber yards of Fukagawa, is owned by the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of History in Yokohama. A preparatory drawing also exists for the “Earth” image, which portrays a woman seated on a bench at Nakabashi, for which no print is extant. Two examples exist of the “Fire” subject, which pictures a woman holding a lantern at night on an embankment, while in the river behind her fishermen employ fire to trap their catch. The “Water” image depicts a woman on a pleasure boat on the Ocha-no-mizu waterway. One example of the “Metal” subject is known, which was included in Izzard's Important Japanese Prints 1830–1860 March 14–20, 2020 exhibition [LIB-2398.2020], as №. 51.

    Metal. Izzard, 2020.

    Fire. Faulkner, 2001.

     
  • Description: One volume, 25.5 x 19.8 cm, bound in ochre morocco, raised bands, gilt lettering to spine, gilt fillet inside, marbled endpapers, T.E.G., printed on wove paper watermarked “Lafuma”, original wrappers and spine bound in; in a slipcase 26 x 20 cm. Front wrapper and title-page (red and black): LE MARIAGE | DE | DON QUICHOTTE | PAR | P.-J. TOULET | {publisher’s device} | ILLUSTRATIONS DE | (CHARLES) MARTIN | | LA RENAISSANCE DU LIVRE | PARIS — 78, BOULEVARD SAINT-MICHEL || Collation: two blank leaves, front wrapper, π4 (blank, h.t./limitation, t.p., preface), 1-274, back wrapper, spine, two blank leaves, 112 leaves between the wrappers plus 9 plates extraneous to collation, incl. frontispiece – stencil-coloured photogravures after Charles Martin. Pagination: [8] 1-210 [2] [4], total 224 pages between the wrappers, ils. Limitation: Edition limited to 775 copies, of which 1 copy on Vieux Japon (№ 1), 24 on Japon Imperial (№2-25), and 750 on Vélin Lafuma (№ 26-775). This copy is № 625. Colophon: Printed on November 15, 1922 – text by Coulouma (Argeneuil), director H. Barthélemy, photogravures by Héliogravure de Schutzenberger (Paris), coloured by Charpentier. Contributors: Paul-Jean Toulet (French, 1867 – 1920) – author. Charles Martin (French, 1884 – 1934) – artist. Léon Maurice Schützenberger (French, 1863 – 1950)