//18th century
  • Title-page: LUKAS ROTGANS | POËZY, | VAN VERSCHEIDE | MENGELSTOFFEN; | MET KONSTPLAATEN VERSIERT. | Tweede Druk | {vignette} | TE AMSTERDAM; | By ANTONI SCHOONENBURG, 1735. || Collation: 4to; fep, 1st blank, engraved t.p. by M. Pool, t.p., *3,4; 2*-9*4, 10*1, *LII2, *LII, 10*2 —> *-10*4 (40 leaves);  A-Z4, 2A-2Z4, 3A-3Z4, 4A-4Q4, last blank, fep; (340 leaves), 2 plates extraneous to collation. Pagination: [2] [1-5] 6-14 [15-80] [1-3] 4-680 [2], 2 unsigned plates not included in pagination after pp. 634 and 652, 50 headpieces by Jacob Folkema after Arnold Houbraken, and 2 tailpieces by Jan de Ruijter. Marks: Armorial bookplate: “Ex Libris J. J. Mak | {coat of arms} | Inveni Intermanere Melius”. Oval ink stamp: “HOOGERE BURGERSCHOOL. | DELFT” Provenance: Johannes Jacobus Mak (Dutch, 1908 – 1975). Edition: 2nd, 1st edition published in 1715 in Leeuwarden by François Halma. Contributors: Lukas Rotgans (Dutch, 1653 – 1710) – author. Arnold Houbraken (Dutch, 1660 – 1719) – artist. Jacob Folkema (Dutch, 1692 – 1767) – engraver. Matthijs Pool (Dutch, 1676 – 1740) – engraver. Jan de Ruijter (Dutch, 1688 – 1744) – engraver. Antoni Schoonenburg (Dutch, 1682 – 1754) – publisher.
  •   Title-page: FABLES | NOUVELLES. | {vignette by Ponce after Marillier} | A LA HAYE, | Et se trouve a Paris, | Chez Delalain, rue de la Comédie Françoise. | — | M. DCC. LXXIII. || Collation: 2 volumes (4 livres) in one, 1st blank, engraved t.p. “FABLES | Par | Mr. Dorat.” signed C. P. Marillier, inv. – E. D. Ghendt Sculp. 1772; a-c4, A-Z4 2A-2Q4, last blank, plus engraved frontispiece before A1 by Nicolas Delaunay and engraved d.t.p. before Z1: “Fables | de M. Dorat | II. Volume” also by Ghendt after Marillier., 99 vignettes and 99 tailpieces, all after Marillier. Lacking Delaunay frontispiece for the second volume (similar to the 1st). Edition: This is a vol. 1 176 pp. copy (Ray, 43). 2nd edition after Fables ou allégories philosophiques, 1772, p. 162 corrected: “Je sais , même au sein des poisons / Puiser le suc qui m'est utile”. Page xxii numbered correctly; on top of p. iii, printed a chain instead of a triple fillet in later issues (Ray, 43A). Pagination: [i, ii] iii-xxii, [2 d.t.p. «Livre premier»] [1] 2-309 [3 table], 3 plates. Binding: Crimson crashed morocco (198 x 133 mm) ruled in gilt, spine with raised bands gilt in compartments with gilt-lettered cream calf label, gilt dentelle inside, marbled endpapers, Pauli Menso bookplate pasted to front pastedown, printed on laid paper, AEG. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-DeRicci: 313-315; Ray (French): № 43, pp. 81-83. Provenance: Pauli Menso. We only present a sample of illustrations, as their total number is enormous. Contributors: Author: Claude Joseph Dorat (French, 1734–1780) Publisher: Delalain (firm) (18th century) Artist: Clément Pierre Marillier (French, 1740–1808) Engravers: Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721–1777) Nicolas Delaunay (French, 1739–1792) Pierre Duflos (French, born in 1751) Emmanuel Jean Nepomucène de Ghendt (Flemish, worked in France, 1738–1815) Yves-Marie Le Gouaz (French, 1742–1816) Pierre Adrien Le Beau (French, 1748–after 1800) Jean-Jacques André Le Veau (French, 1729–1786) Charles Louis Lingée (French, 1748–1819) Joseph de Longueil (French, 1730–1792) Louis Legrand (French, 1723–1807) Jacques Le Roy (French, born in 1739) Louis Joseph Masquelier (French, 1741–1811) François Denis Née (French, 1735–1818) Nicholas Ponce (French, 1746–1831) Marguerite (Hémery) Ponce (French, born in 1745) Jean Baptiste Simonet (French, 1742–1813)
  • 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 (red and black): RESTIF DE LA BRETONNE | LES | FAIBLESSES | D'UNE | JOLIE FEMME | ILLUSTRATIONS EN COULEURS | DE | RAOUL SERRES | {VIGNETTE} | EDMOND VAIREL, ÉDITEUR | PARIS || Description: 25.8 x 17 cm, French flapped wrappers lettered in red and black “LES | FAIBLESSES | D'UNE | JOLIE FEMME” in a 26 x 18 cm tan cloth double slipcase, [1-14] 15-175 [176] [8], collated in-8vo, with 25 colour in-text woodcut vignettes and two tailpieces at the end of each chapter, by Gérard Angiolini after watercolours by Raoul Serres. Published: April 18, 1951, in Paris. Edition: 1st thus, limited edition of 1,025 copies, of which this is № 904 of a common print run on Vélin de Rives paper (numbered 101-1,000). Contributors: Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne [Nicolas-Edme Rétif] (French, 1734 – 1806) – author. Raoul Serres [Schem] (French, 1881 – 1971) – artist. Gérard Angiolini (French, fl. 1946 – 1957) – engraver. Imprimerie Coulouma (Argenteuil), Robert Coulouma (French, 1887-1976) – printer. Edmond Vairel (French, 18… – 19...) – publisher, colourist.
  • Title page: Romeyn de Hooghe | the etcher | Contemporary portrayal of Europe 1662-1707 | {Space} | A. W. Sijthoff-Leiden | Oceana-Dobbs Ferry N.Y. | MCMLXXIII || Pagination: [1-7] 8-406 colophon, [2 blank], ils. Binding: Oblong 24.6 x 34 cm, green cloth with gilt lettering to front cover and spine, in a pictorial slipcase 25.3 x 34.1 cm. Edition: 1st edition, limited to 1,000 copies, this is copy № 97 (stamped in black ink). Contributors: Romeyn de Hooghe (Dutch, 1645 – 1708) – artist. John H. Landwehr (Dutch, 1924 – 2015) – author. Verenigde Offset-Bedrijven BV (Hardenberg) – printer.
  • Title page: JOHN LANDWEHR | ROMEYN DE HOOGHE | (1645-1708) | AS BOOK ILLUSTRATOR | A BIBLIOGRAPHY | {space} | 1970 | AMSTERDAM: VANGENDT & CO | NEW YORK: ABNER SCHRAM || Pagination: [1-6] 7-247 [248 blank], ils. Content:109 entries, concordance table and 12 pp. of indices. Binding: 27.3 x 19.7 cm, green cloth, silver lettering to spine, pictorial dust jacket. ISBN: 90 6300 467 2. Contributors: Romeyn de Hooghe (Dutch, 1645 – 1708) John Landwehr – author.

    Van Gendt & Co. (Amsterdam) – publisher.

    Abner Schram Ltd. (NY) – publisher.    
  • Engraved title: The | Costume | of the | Empire of Russia | {copper horseman vignette} | signed under: Printed for E. Harding at the Crown and Mitre Pall Mall || English title: COSTUME | OF THE | RUSSIAN EMPIRE, | ILLUSTRATED BY UPWARDS OF | SEVENTY RICHLY COLOURED ENGRAVINGS. | DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO | HER ROYAL HIGHNESS | THE | PRINCESS ELIZABETH. | LONDON: | PRINTED BY T. BENSLEY, BOLT COURT, FLEET STREET; | FOR JOHN STOCKDALE, PICCADILLY. | 1811. || Paper: thick wove paper, the leaf with “Copper Horseman” watermarked J. Whatman 1808; the French title – Edmeads & Co 1809, E2 – E & P 1807, plates are not watermarked [NYPL: An “1803” copy of The Costumes of the Russian Empire has watermarks from 1796 (W Elgar), 1809 (Edmeads & Co), 1811, 1813 (J. Whatman), 1818, and 1829]. Collation: 4to; (1) engraved title by E. Harding (“Copper Horseman” monument of Peter the Great), (2) English title, (3) French title, (4) Dedication to her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth by E. Harding (1803), (5) Contents —> π5 a2 B-S4 T2, all second leaves in all quires but C and T signed “2”, 77 leaves total, unpaginated, plus 72 plates (34.5 x 25.5 cm), stipple and line engravings, hand-coloured, by John Dadley after William Alexander. Binding: 36 x 27 cm, straight-grain green morocco, blind-stamped palmette border withing gilt-stamped palmette border to boards, raised bands decorated in gilt, gilt in compartments, two brown morocco labels with gilt lettering, brown endpapers, 2 additional flyleaves at front and back, AEG. Authorship and artistic work are attributed to Alexander and Dadley, but not signed. 1st edition in 1803 was published by William Richard Beckford Miller (British, 1769 – 1844). Catalogue raisonné: Tooley (1906): p. 151. Contributors: William Alexander (British, 1767 – 1816) – artist, author. John Dadley (British, 1767 – 1817) – engraver. Thomas Bensley (British, 1759 – 1835) – printer. John Stockdale (British, 1750 – 1814) – publisher. Edward Harding (British, 1755 – 1840) – publisher of 1803 edition (author of dedication) Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (British, 1770 – 1840) – dedicatee.
  • Title (in red and black): PART I | CANDIDE | OR | ALL FOR THE BEST | ★ | TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF | M. DE VOLTAIRE | ★ | WITH 10 ETCHINGS BY | CLARA TICE | ★ | EXACT REPRINT OF THE EARLIEST ENGLISH TEXT | PRINTED IN HOLLAND BY | JOH. ENSCHEDÉ EN ZONEN | FOUNDED IN HAARLEM ANNO MDCCIII | FOR | THE BENNETT LIBRARIES INC. | NEW YORK | MDCCCCXXVII || Limitation: 1,000 copies of which numbers 1 t0 250 are on a special deckle-edge Pannekoek paper; and numbers 251 to 1,000 are on papier à la cuve; this is copy № 310 (stamped in pink ink). Illustrations: 10 coloured etchings, incl. frontispiece, produced by an American artist Clara Tice (1888 – 1973) on a watermarked laid paper and bound in with tissue guards, lettered in red. Binding: 23.5 x 15.3 cm, quarter black buckram over wrinkled faux-marbled paper painted with gilt, gilt design and lettering to spine, black endpapers (both flyleaves present), top margin gilt, other trimmed rough. Collation: [10] – five blank leaves, [2] – h.t. / limitation, [2] – t.p. / imprint, 7-119 [120 blank], [121-2] – part 2 d.t.p. / blank, 123-182, [183-9] – contents, [190 blank], [10] – five blank leaves, the first blank uncut from [189/90]; total number of pages 216; total number of leaves  108 plus 10 plates with tissue guards, incl. frontispiece. Contributors: François-Marie Arouet [Voltaire] (French, 1694 – 1778)– author. Tobias George Smollett (British, 1721 – 1771) – translator (translation of 1759). Clara Tice (American, 1888 – 1973) – artist. The Bennett Libraries (NY) – publisher. Johannes Enschedé en Zonen (Haarlem) – printer.
  • Two-volume large paper edition with 20 plates in two states. Vol. 1 (with plates). Title : CONTES | ET | NOUVELLES EN VERS. | PAR | JEAN DE LA FONTAINE. | — | TOME PREMIER| {vignette “P.P. Choffard 95”} | A PARIS, | DE L’IMPRIMERIE DE P. DIDOT L'AÎNÉ. | L’AN III DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE. | M. DCC. XCV. || Pagination: [2] [i-iv] v-vii [viii], 1-280 [2 table] [2], total 294 pages, ils. Collation: 4to; 1 blank, π43a signed “a”), 1-354 361, 1 blank, total 147 leaves, plus 40 leaves of plates with tissue guards, after Fragonard and others, which represent 20 engravings, each in two states, before and after letters, besides №9 (Le Calendrier des Vieillards by Jean Dambrun after Fragonard), which has two identical copies, both before letters. Vol. 2. (without plates) Title: same, but TOME SECOND. Pagination: [2] [4] 1-334 [2], total 342 pages. Collation: 4to; 1 blank, π2 1-414 423 1 blank, total 167 leaves. Binding:  Two volumes uniformly bound in crimson straight-grain morocco, ruled in gilt, gilt-decorated flat spine with lettering, board edges and turn-ins tooled with gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, three bookplates to front pastedown, top edge trimmed, 2nd volume partly uncut; text and plates printed on thick Dutch wove paper. Size: volumes: 33.3 x 25.2 cm; leaves: 31.5 x 23.5 cm. Provenance: Bishop, Cortlandt Field (American, 1870 – 1935) – bookplate. Mary S. Collins – bookplate by J. H. Fincken. Robin F. Satinsky (American, 1919 – 2008) – Robin Collection bookplate. Catalogue raisonné: Ray (French): 133-137; Cohen-DeRicci 573-582 ; Lewine : 281-282. CONTRIBUTORS: Jean de La Fontaine (French, 1621–1695) – author. Pierre Didot (French, 1761–1853) – publisher, printer. Artists: Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732–1806) Jean Baptiste Mallet (French, 1759–1835) Jacques Louis François Touzé (French, 1747–1807) Charles Monnet (French, 1732–after 1808) Engravers: Jacques Aliamet (French, 1726–1788) Jean Dambrun (French, 1741–about 1808) Jean Louis Delignon (French, 1755–about 1804) Jean Baptiste Michel Dupréel (French, active 1787–1817) Louis Michel Halbou (French, 1730–1809) Charles Louis Lingée (French, 1748–1819) Charles Emmanuel Jean Baptiste Patas (French, 1744–1802) Jean Baptiste Simonet (French, 1742–1813) Jean Baptiste Tilliard (French, 1740–1823) Philippe Trière (French, 1756–about 1815) Pierre-Philippe Choffard (French, 1730–1809) – t.p. vignette PLATES (collation order): №8: Fragonard / Trière – La Gageure des trois Commères №1*: Fragonard / Lingée – Joconde №1**: Mallet / Trière – Joconde №2: Fragonard / Delignon – Le Cocu battu et content №3: Fragonard / Tilliard – Le Mari confesseur №4: Fragonard / Dambrun – Le Savetier №5: Fragonard / Lingée – Le Paysan qui avait offensé son Seigneur №9: Fragonard / Dambrun – Le Calendrier des Vieillards №10: Fragonard / Aliamet – A Femme avare galant Escroc №12: Fragonard / Halbou – Le Gascon puni №11: Fragonard / Patas – On ne s’avise jamais de tout №13: Monnet / Tilliard – La Fiancée du roi de Garbe №14: Fragonard / Dupréel – La Coupe enchantée №15: Fragonard / Tilliard – Le Faucon №17: Fragonard / Patas – Le Pâté d’Anguilles №18: Fragonard / Tilliard – Le Magnifique №19: Fragonard / Delignon – La Matrone d’Ephèse №20: Fragonard / Patas – Belphégor №22: Touzé / Simonet – Le Glouton №26: Touzé / Lingée – Le Baiser rendu
  • Title (chain border): CANDIDE | VOLTAIRE | ILLUSTRATIONS BY | MAHLON BLAINE | {vignette} | NEW YORK | Illustrated Editions Company | 220 FOURTH AVENUE || Title verso: (top) COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY WILLIAMS, BELASCO & MEYERS || (bottom) PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | BY J. J. LITTLE & IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK || Pagination:[1-7] 8-144, headpiece, frontispiece and 5 plates after Blaine’s pen drawings, within the pagination; tailpieces by A. Zaidenberg. Binding: 21 x 14 cm; quarter beige buckram over blue cloth, stamped-gilt and red lettering and vignette to front board and spine. Binding in a way similar to Sterne's A sentimental journey published by Three Sirens Press in c. 1930 [LIB-2784.2021]. Not only that: tailpieces in this Illustrated Editions Company edition are the same as in Cameo Classic edition, with the only difference – here the name of the artist is stated, whether in the Cameo Classic it is not; see [LIB-2777.2021]. Bear in mind that Cameo Classic does not belong to Williams, Belasco and Meyers, it is a Grosset and Dunlap series; a cream dust-jacket lettered in red and blue, and with a citation from W. Somerset Maugham; all edges red. Compare with LIB-2791.2021. Illustrations in the current copy are exactly the same. Compare Williams, Belasco and Meyers Candide and Illustrated Editions Company Candide title pages:

    Williams, Belasco and Meyers

    Illustrated Editions Company

      Arouet, François-Marie [Voltaire] (French, 1694 – 1778)– author. Woolf, Herman Irwell [Chambers, Dorset] (British, 1890 – 1958) – translator. Blaine, Mahlon [Hudson, G. Christopher] (American, 1894 – 1969) – illustrator. Zaidenberg, Arthur (American, 1902 – 1990) – illustrator. Williams, Belasco and Meyers (NY) – copyright holder. Illustrated Editions Company (1929-1942) – publisher. J. J. Little & Ives Company (NY) – printer. See the Cameo Classic reprint [LIB-2777.2021].
  • Title page (in red and black): FRENCH ROCOCO | BOOK ILLUSTRATION | OWEN E. HOLLOWAY | {vignette} | LONDON/ALEC TIRANTI/1969 || Series: Pagination: [2 blanks], [i-iv] v-vi, 1-115 [116 blank], plus 65 leaves of plates (283 illustrations). Binding: 25.5 x 19 cm; publisher's navy buckram, gilt lettering to spine, pictorial dust jacket, unclipped.
  • Title page: The Art of the | French Illustrated Book | 1700 to 1914 | VOLUME I (II) | Gordon N. Ray | The Pierpont Morgan Library | Cornell University Press || Pagination: vol.1: [8] ix-xxxii, [2] 3-245 [3], illustr.; vol.2: [8] 247-557 [5], illustr. Both volumes paginater through out. Binding: 30.5 x 23.5 cm, two volumes uniformly bound in red cloth, gilt vignette to front cover, gilt lettering to spine; bookplate to front pastedown, ex-lib (Sweet Briar College Library) Contributors: Ray, Gordon Norton (American, 1915 – 1986) – author. Lange, Thomas V. – formal bibliographical description. Passela, Charles V. – photography. The Pierpont Morgan Library – Copyright © 1982
  • Title page: The | Illustrator | and the Book | in England | from | 1790 to 1914 | Gordon N. Ray | The Pierpont Morgan Library | Oxford University Press || Pagination: [i-viii] ix-xxxiii [xxxiv], [1-2] 3-336 [4], illustr. Binding: 30.5 x 23.5 cm; publisher’s blue cloth, gilt lettering in a figural frame to front, gilt lettering to spine, pictorial endpapers. Ex-lib (University of Virginia). Contributors: Ray, Gordon Norton (American, 1915 – 1986) – author. Lange, Thomas V. – formal bibliographical description. Passela, Charles V. – photography. The Pierpont Morgan Library – Copyright © 1976
  • Title (chain border): CANDIDE | VOLTAIRE | ILLUSTRATIONS BY | MAHLON BLAINE | {vignette} | NEW YORK | Illustrated Editions Company | 220 FOURTH AVENUE || Title verso: (top) COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY WILLIAMS, BELASCO & MEYERS || (bottom) PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | BY J. J. LITTLE & IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK || Pagination:[1-10] 11-144, headpiece, frontispiece and 5 plates after Blaine’s pen drawings, within the pagination; tailpieces by A. Zaidenberg. Binding: 21 x 14 cm; quarter beige buckram over blue cloth, stamped-gilt and red lettering and vignette to front board and spine. Binding in a way similar to Sterne's A sentimental journey published by Three Sirens Press in c. 1930 [LIB-2784.2021]. Not only that: tailpieces in this Illustrated Editions Company edition are the same as in Cameo Classic edition, with the only difference – here the name of the artist is stated, whether in the Cameo Classic it is not; see [LIB-2777.2021]. Bear in mind that Cameo Classic does not belong to Williams, Belasco and Meyers, it is a Grosset and Dunlap series. Compare Williams, Belasco and Meyers Candide and Illustrated Editions Company Candide title pages:

    Williams, Belasco and Meyers

    Illustrated Editions Company

      Arouet, François-Marie [Voltaire] (French, 1694 – 1778)– author. Woolf, Herman Irwell [Chambers, Dorset] (British, 1890 – 1958) – translator. Blaine, Mahlon [Hudson, G. Christopher] (American, 1894 – 1969) – illustrator. Zaidenberg, Arthur (American, 1902 – 1990) – illustrator. Williams, Belasco and Meyers (NY) – copyright holder. Illustrated Editions Company (1929-1942) – publisher. J. J. Little & Ives Company (NY) – printer. See the Cameo Classic reprint [LIB-2777.2021].
  • Title (chain border): CANDIDE | VOLTAIRE | ILLUSTRATIONS BY | MAHLON BLAINE | {vignette} | NEW YORK | WILLIAMS, BELASCO | AND MEYERS || Title verso: (top) COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY WILLIAMS, BELASCO & MEYERS || (bottom) PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | BY J. J. LITTLE & IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK || Pagination:[1-6] 7-144, headpiece, frontispiece and 5 plates after Blaine’s pen drawings, within the pagination. Binding: 25 x 16.5 cm; blue cloth, blind-stamped frame, stamped-gilt lettering to front board and spine, thick wove paper, upper edge blue, fore-edge untrimmed, yellow vergé endpapers. Arouet, François-Marie [Voltaire] (French, 1694 – 1778)– author. Woolf, Herman Irwell [Chambers, Dorset] (British, 1890 – 1958) – translator. Blaine, Mahlon [Hudson, G. Christopher] (American, 1894 – 1969) – illustrator. Williams, Belasco and Meyers (NY) – publisher. J. J. Little & Ives Company (NY) – printer. See the Cameo Classic reprint [LIB-2777.2021].
  • Title page (frame, three compartments: LAURENCE STERNE |—| A | SENTIMENTAL | JOURNEY | THROUGH | FRANCE AND ITALY | ILLUSTRATED BY | MAHLON BLAINE |—| THREE SIRENS PRESS | NEW YORK || Title verso: (top) COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY WILLIAMS, BELASCO & MEYERS | PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | (bottom) BY J. J. LITTLE & IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK || Pagination: [1-6] 7-192, frontispiece, headpiece, and 4 plates within collation (pp. 45, 85, 141, and 185) after Blaine’s pen drawings in the woodcut manner. Binding: quarter lilac morocco with stamped brown lettering over blue cloth, design elements and lettering to spine, top edge gilt, fore-edge untrimmed. Size: 24.5 x 16 cm Edition: presumably 1st edition with plates after Blaine. Contributors: Sterne, Laurence (British-Irish, 1713 – 1768) – author of the text. Blaine, Mahlon (American, 1894 – 1969) – illustrator (pseudonym: G. Christopher Hudson). Three Sirens Press (NY); Williams, Belasco, and Meyers (NY) – publishers. J. J. Little & Ives Company (NY) – printer. Compare to the re-printed edition by Halcyon House, [c. 1950] in the collection [LIB-2783.2021]. As stated, the copyright is held by Williams, Belasco, and Meyers, who are: Joseph Meyers (c. 1898 – 1957), his sister Edna Williams, and David Belasco (1853 – 1931). "Joseph Meyers was described by Bennet Cerf (Modern Library, Random House) as a “notorious pirate” in Gertzman’s book Bookleggers and Smuthounds, and the trio of presses allegedly indulged in reprinting numerous books without holding the copyright to those titles. By not paying copyright fees, Meyers and Williams were able to print and sell good quality illustrated books at prices that were below typical smaller, unillustrated reprint series of the 1930s." [cit.]  
  • Title (in red and black): CANDIDE | OU L'OPTIMISME | PAR | VOLTAIRE | ILLUSTRATIONS | DE | BRUNELLESCHI | {vignette} | GIBERT JEUNE | LIBRAIRIE D'AMATEURS | 61, BOULEVARD SAINT-MICHEL, 61 | PARIS || Pagination : [6] 1-163 [164][2], with 23 black tailpieces, plus 16 colour plates extraneous to collation, incl. frontispiece, printed by A. Dantan and stencil-coloured (au pochoir) by E. Charpentier after gouache and watercolour drawings by Umberto Brunelleschi; total 102 leaves. Limited edition of 2500 copies, this is № 39. Printed at Imprimerie Coulouma, Argenteuil (H. Barthélemy, director) on July 15, 1933. Binding: 26.5 x 20.5 cm, publisher’s pictorial wrappers, vignettes and lettering to front wrapper and spine, publisher’s device to back wrapper. Description of the stensil (au pochoir) technique.
  • Title (historiated border, three-compartment): CAMEO CLASSICS | {rule} | CANDIDE | BY | Voltaire | WITH ILLUSTRATIONS | BY | Mahlon Blaine | {rule} | GROSSET AND DUNLAP | NEW YORK || Pagination: [1-6] 7-144, total 144 pages; frontispiece plus 4 plates within collation, head- and tailpieces – reproductions of Mahlon Blaine’s pen drawings. Binding: 21 x 14 cm, cream cloth with the cameo of Johann Gutenberg to front cover, gilt lettering to front cover and spine, in acetate dust jacket, in a pictorial slipcase. Arouet, François-Marie [Voltaire] (French, 1694 – 1778)– author. Woolf, Herman Irwell [Chambers, Dorset] (British, 1890 – 1958) – translator. Blaine, Mahlon [Hudson, G. Christopher] (American, 1894 – 1969) – illustrator. Grosset and Dunlap (NY) – publisher. J. J. Little & Ives Company (NY) – printer. Cameo Classics series was published by Grosset & Dunlap (New York) in 1935 – 1948 as a cheap reprint of illustrated classic editions, in this case – of Williams, Belasco and Meyers publication of Candide in 1930 (see LIB-2792.2021). The Cameo Classics books had a clear, acetate dust jacket and were boxed in a buckram alligator skin patterned slipcase with an illustrated cover. The price per volume started at 69 cents and was gradually lowered to 59 and 50 cents per volume by the late 1930s. Candide was translated into English quite a few times, starting from Tobias George Smollett (British-Scottish, 1721 – 1771) and up to today's translators. For some reason, the translator's name is almost never indicated. This translation, published by Williams, Belasco and Meyers in 1930 and reprinted by Grosset and Dunlap in c. 1935, was performed by Herman Irwell Woolf under the pseudonym of Dorset Chambers and first published in London by F.B. Neumayer in 1919. This edition was mentioned in the letter from Joseph Conrad to his son Borys in 1922, May 10.