• Volume bound by Boichot (signed on front pastedown), 25.3 x 20.2 cm in a 25.9 x 20.3 slipcase, the book and the case uniformly in beige, brown, and blue diaper paper with a navy blue label with gilt lettering to book's spine, top edge gilt, J.-P. Dutel’s bookplate to fep, portfolio cover preserved. Pp.: [1-4] 5-37 [38 blank]; collated 4to, 13 2-54; total 19 leaves (38 pages), plus 12 plates coloured in stencil technique (pochoir), produced after watercolours by Gerda Wegener in c. 1917 on Arches or Whatman laid paper, watermarked. Each illustration bears a small masquerade mask at the bottom as a signature. Text printed on laid paper without a watermark; starting from 2nd gathering, the text printed on recto only; minor traces of water stain to some pages. Title-page (red and black): ALEXANDRE DE VÉRINEAU | Douze Sonnets lascifs | pour accompagner la suite d’aquarelles intitulée | Les Délassements d’Éros | {vignette medallion} | ÉROTOPOLIS | A L’ENSEIGNE DU FAUNE | 1925 || First edition, first printing (incl. plates); clandestine. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel 1356, 1434; Pia 363/4; Noedmann I 310; Fekete 221. Contributors: Louis Perceau (French, 1883 – 1942) – author (see LIB-2633.2021: Guillaume Apollinaire, Fernand Fleuret, Louis Perceau. L'enfer de la Bibliothèque Nationale. — Paris: Mercure de France, 1913). Gerda Wegener (Danish, 1886 – 1940) – artist. Maurice Duflou (French, 1885 – 1951) – publisher. Boichot – bookbinder.
  • Single volume, 17.1 x 11.2 cm, quarter black sheepskin over faux chagrin, gilt lettering to spine, marbled endpapers, bottom and outer margin untrimmed, pp.: [i-v] vi- xxxvi, [1] 2-218 [2], collated 4to: π2, a-d4, 1-274 282, total 256 pages or 128 leaves, plus 20 engraved plates by Paul Sellier, including frontispiece portrait of Alexis Piron after bust by Caffieri. Vol. 8 of Bibliothèque Libre, Œuvres badines de Piron, printed on February 15, 1872. Text printed on dense wove paper watermarked P or M, plates printed on India wove paper. A reprint of an edition published in 1796 plus illustrations. Title-page: ŒUVRES | BADINES | D’ALEXIS PIRON | PRÉCÉDÉES | D’UNE NOTICE SUR SA VIE | Nouvelle édition, ornée de 20 figures en taille-douce | {vignette} | IMPRIMÉ PAR LES PRESSES DE LA SOCIÉTÉ | A NEUCHATEL | – | 1872 || Limitation: 100 numbered copies, of which this is № 75. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel I: A-788; Pia: 953-6; Kearney 377 (Patrick J. Kearney. A Catalogue of the publications of Jules Gay, Jean-Jules Gay & Gay et Doucé, revised & expanded. — Santa Rosa, CA Scissors & Paste Bibliographies, 2019) Catalogue Poulet-Malassis & ses amis description: № 81. Alexis PIRON. Œuvres badines précédées d’une notice sur sa vie. Nouvelle édition ornée de 20 figures en taille-douce. [ Jules Gay] Imprimé par les presses de la société, à Neufchatel, 1872. In-8, xxxvi, 218 pages et un feuillet d’achevé d’imprimer de table, demi-basane noire, dos à faux nerfs, tête et tranches naturelles. Illustré d’un portrait et de 20 figures par Paul Sellier. Tirage limité à 100 ex. numérotés. De la « Bibliothèque libre ou collection choisie d’ouvrages du genre libre, imprimés ou réimprimés par les soins de la Société des Bibliophiles Cosmopolites et pour les membres de cette société, à cent exemplaires numérotés ». Bibliographie : Pia 1030, Enfer 1274, Lem 3-454, Gay 5-339, PC 353, G* 38, Pey 203, Dutel A-788." Contributors: Alexis Piron (French, 1689 – 1773) – author. Paul Sellier (French, 1842 – 19..?) – artist. Jules Léopold Gay (French, 1807 – 1887) – publisher.
  • Hardcover volume 28.5 x 20.8 cm, quarter brown morocco over marbled boards, ruled in gilt, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, gilt lettering, marbled endpapers, top margin gilt, original lithographic wrappers designed by A. Willette preserved; pp.: [4] h.t., t.p., [1] 2-350 [2], 300 b/w ils in-text and 12 coloured photomechanical reproductions extraneous to collation; collated in-4o: π2 1-444; Title-page: L'ART DU RIRE | ET DE | LA CARICATURE | PAR ARSÈNE ALEXANDRE | 300 FAC-SIMILÉS EN NOIR ET 12 PLANCHES EN COULEURS | D’APRÈS LES ORIGINAUX | {vignette} | PARIS | ANCIENNE MAISON QUANIN | LIBRAIRIES-IMPRIMERIES RÉUNIES | 7, RUE ST-BENOIT | MAY & MOTTEROZ, DIRECTEURS || Contributors : Librairie-Imprimerie réunies (Paris, 1880-1908) – publisher. Arsène Alexandre (French, 1859 – 1937) – author. Adolphe Willette (French, 1857 – 1926) – artist (wrapper)
  • Le Grelot / journal illustré politique et satirique, №21, dimanche, 3 septembre 1871. Artist: Caporal (signed in the lower-left corner) Engraver/Printer: J. Lefman (signed LEFMAN SC in the lower-right corner) Title: LE COUP D'ÉTAT DU 4 SEPTEMBRE  1871. The Coup d'Etat of September 4th 1871. The artist equalled the 4th of September revolution when Napoleon III was ousted and the Second Empire collapsed, to a coup d'Etat. Although the number is marked September 3, it is dedicated to the events of September 4th. This was a usual French newspaper practice to postdate their issues. That's why they almost always operated with categories such as "today", "yesterday", and "tomorrow" instead of definitive calendar dates. "Le Grelot" means "The Sleigh Bell". Personages: Ratapoil – fictional personage invented by Honoré Daumier (French, 1808 – 1879), a Napoleon III caricaturized figure. Ratapoil is addressing the audience holding up Napoléon Bonaparte's tricorn cocked hat. Pietri – Joseph Marie Piétri [Joachim Piétri] (French, – is sitting in the first row, taking notes. Rouher – Eugène Rouher (French, 1814 – 1884), president of the Senat. Canrobert – François Marcellin Certain de Canrobert (French, 1809 – 1895), French Marshal, captured by the Prussian army in Metz with Marshal Bazaine during the surrender of Metz on October 28, 1870. Ollivier – Olivier Émile Ollivier (French, 1825 – 1913), head of the government. Hiding behind the theater decoration are: Napoleon III (Lui!), his wife Eugénie (Elle!), their son Prince Imperial (Le P'tit!), and Pierre Bonaparte (L'Autre). Sitting in the theatre box facing the scene: Adolphe Thiers (French, 1797 – 1877), Jules Favre (French, 1809 – 1880), Louis-Jules Trochu [Le General Trochu] (French, 1815 – 1896), and the other members of the "Government of National Defence". On the gallery: youngsters and two men in sans-culottes hats. An unidentified person on a ladder holding to an eagle figure is having a paintbrush and a bucket with 'tender green' paint. Ref: Musée Carnavalet
  • [Jean de LA FONTAINE]. Contes et nouvelles en vers. De Monsieur de La Fontaine. Nouvelle édition enrichie de tailles-douces. À Amsterdam | Chez Henry Desbordes, MDCLXXXV [1685]. — 2 vol. in 1. Pagination: [1] - frontispiece with pasted illustr., [*1] - title p. with blank verso, *2-*5 (only recto numbered) - advertisement, [1] - preface vol. 1, [2] table, 1-236; [6] - preface vol. 2, 1-216, illustr. (in text). Etched frontispiece plate and 58 half-page etchings at the head of each chapter as well as endpiece vignettes, all by R. de Hooge (Romeyn de Hooghe, 1645 – 1708, a Dutch painter, sculptor, engraver and caricaturist. First illustrated edition. "Publication of the scandalous fables was forbidden in France from 1674. According to Van Eeghen, this edition was published without the knowledge of La Fontaine. ...This is the edition with ‘Le Juge de Nêle’ (instead of Mesle) in the contents of the first volume, as well as page 211 for 'Dissertation sur la Joconde'; 16 lines of text on page 211; and 19 lines of text on the first page of the preface of volume 2" [1]. Pott 8vo (15.4 x 10 cm), hardcover; owner's later tan polished half-calf, marbled boards, marbled pastedowns and flyleaves, 5 raised bands, dark brown labels with gilt lettering and gilt roll patterns on spine, tail of the spine slightly damaged. Corners bumped, spotted stains on leather. Henri Desbordes (d. ca. 1722) was a Huguenot printer who was exiled from his business in France and set up as a publisher in Amsterdam in the 17th century.
  • A limited-edition (№26/500) set of 42 etchings and drypoints after Félicien Rops (Belgian, 1833 – 1898), each mounted in a numbered passe-partout, printed posthumously by an anonym in Germany in 1905; in a flapped half faux suede-backed cardboard portfolio with straps, 442 x 335 mm, red embossed lettering to the front cover, bookplate of Richard Teschner (Austrian, 1879 – 1948) pasted inside.

    Title-page (in a red frame): Das erotische Werk | des Felicien Rops | Zweiundvierzig Radie- | rungen des Meisters | in schwarzem und | farbigem Lichtdruck | 1905 | Privatdruk ||

    Limitation (in a red two-section frame) : Dieses Werk wurde in einer | einmaligen Auflage von | 500 numerierten Exemplaren | hergestellt. — Ein Nachdruck | findet nicht statt, die Platten | == sind vernichtet == | Exemplar Nr. 26 ||

    Verzeichnis der Tafeln (Table of Contents): 1. Initiation sentimentale; 2. La croix; 3. Entre-acte; 4. Holocauste; 5. La bonne hollandaise; 6. Étude; 7. La femme au pantin; 8. L’amour de Satan; 9. Au pays des féminies; 10. La volupté; 11. Evocation; 12. De castitate; 13. Joujou; 14. Vengeance d’une femme; 15. Phantasies; 16. Indolence; 17. Théâtre gaillard; 18. Appel au peuple; 19. Masques modernes; 20. Tout est grand chez les rois; 21. Marie-Madeleine; 22. L’amante du Christ; 23. Feuille de vigne; 24. La messe de Guide; 25 Viol et prostitution; 26. Le maillot; 27. Les jeunes France; 28. Les diaboliques; 29. Coquetterie au miroir; 30. Jeune homme; 31. La femme et la mort; 32. Confidence; 33. La bergère; 34. La mère aux satyrions; 35. Les exercices de dévotion de Mr. Henri Roch; 36. Mademoiselle de Maupin; 37. Le bonheur dans le crime; 38. La sirène; 39. Les cabotinages de l’amour; 40. Document sur l’impuissance d’aimer; 41. A cœur perdu; 42. Curieuse.

  • Title: Life in Paris ; | COMPRISING THE | RAMBLES, SPREES, AND AMOURS, | OF | DICK WILDFIRE, | OF CORINTHIAN CELEBRITY, | And his Bang-up Companions, SQUARE JENKINS | AND | CAPTAIN O’SHUFFLETON ; | WITH THE | Whimsical Adventures of the Halibut family ; | Including Sketches of a Variety of other Eccentric Characters in the | FRENCH METROPOLIS. | BY DAVID CAREY |[Vignette]| Embellished with Twenty-One COLOURED PLATES, representing SCENES from REAL LIFE, | designed and engraved by Mr. GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. | Enriched also with Twenty-Two Engravings on Wood, drawn by the same Artist, and | executed by Mr. WHITE. | LONDON : | PRINTED FOR JOHN FAIRBURN, BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL; | Sold by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones ; Langman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown ; and | Baldwin, Craddoc, and Joy ; Paternoster-Row ; Simpkin and Marshall, Statio- | ners’ Court ; Whittakers Ave-Maria-Lane ; Humphrey, St. James’s | Street ; and Wilson, Royal Exchange. | 1822. ||

    Edition: 1st edition in book form, 1st issue; large-paper copy bound from the parts in original blue paper boards, "most scarce" (Cohn).

    Pagination: ffl, [i, ii] – h.t. ‘LIFE IN PARIS’ / ‘MARCHANT, Printer, Ingram-Court, London’, [2] – blank / Frontispiece (Ville la Bagatelle!!) hand-coloured, [iii, iv] – t.p. with vignette / blank, [v] vi-xxiv, [1] 2-489 [490 blank], [2] – 'TO THE BINDER' and 'Marchant, Printer, Ingram-Court, Fenchurch Street' "considered indispensable to a complete copy" (Cohn) / blank, bfl watermarked 1800; 21 hand-coloured aquatints and 22 wood-engraved text vignettes; cancelled leaves 143/4 and 335/6; pinholes from printing visible in most gatherings.

    Collation: 4to; [a]-c4, B-Z4 Aa-Zz4 3A-3Q4 3R1 + [Ω]1

    Binding: Original boards sometime re-backed with red paper, binder's end leaf watermarked 1800; red hard-grained morocco clamshell box.

    Catalogue raisonné: Albert M. Cohn, 1924: № 109 p. 37/8; Abbey, J. R. (Life in England), 112; Tooley (Some English Books with Coloured Plates) 129; Hardie (English coloured books) 199.

    Description of Shapero Rare Books, London: Of the copies that have come to auction since 1975 only one has been a large-paper copy in original boards. "The pictures are extremely spirited and true and are all the more wonderful in view of the fact that the artist’s continental experiences were limited to one day spent in Boulogne." (Hardie). In 1821, the journalist Pierce Egan published Life in London, an immediate success illustrated by the Cruikshank brothers, George and Robert. In order to capitalise on this success, another journalist, David Carey, decided to publish his own Life in Paris in monthly instalments (just like Life in London) and with a very similar frontispiece to the one that appears in Egan’s work; Life in Paris, however, was illustrated only by George Cruikshank. One of the earliest and most notable examples of the work of George Cruikshank, with fine, clean plates.
  • Description: French flapped wrappers, 27 x 20.5 cm, 134 gatherings, plus two leaves (blank, h.t. / limitation) at the beginning (54 leaves total), the first and the last two leaves blank, two pages in each of 12 gatherings (24 total) are hand-painted photogravures after etchings by an anonymous artist, attributed to Santippa, pseudonym of Georges or Gaston Hoffmann, or, possibly, of André Collot; the gatherings are unbound, pp. [1-10] 11-99 [100] [8] (108 pages total). Title-page: ÉPICES | REFLEXIONS | sur quelques à-côtés de l'amour | destinées à des personnes | expérimentées | ILLUSTREES | DE | VINGT-QUATRE PLANCHES | HORS-TEXTE | COLORIÉES A LA MAIN | {vignette} | ÉDITÉ | POUR UN GROUPE DE BIBLIOPHILES || Edition: limited to 500 copies numbered from 1 to 480 + 20 hand-numbered with Roman numbers. This is copy № 273. Enrichment: one original sketch (for Coucou… ou l’erreur de porte), one etching before letters and the same after letters and coloured (Le petit coin tranquille.. 19/20), and a full suite of 24 original etchings in sepia on cream paper, 20 of them on Arches and 4 on BFK Rives) printed for the first 17 copies of the 1950 edition (55 copies were printed then). In addition: one graphite pencil sketch which is not part of the suite. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel 1920 – 1970: № 1490 (for 1950), № 1491 (for 1955).  
  • NEW
    Framed pencil and watercolour drawings with 4-line manuscript pen and ink French text under the frame on paper 255 x 175 mm mounted on card stock sheets 290 x 210 mm. Illustrations correspond to the 1st edition of Pierre Louÿs’ « Pybrac / Poésies » published by Cythère Au coq hardi in 1927 [LIB-3061.2022], pp. 25, 37, 64, 69, 85, 86, and 94. Illustrations here are placed in the order they would have appeared in the book.
    1. Je n’aime pas à voir deux sœurs l’une sur l’autre, L’une étendue, ouvrant ses deux cuisses en l’air, Et l’autre qui s’y plonge et s’y frotte et s’y vautre, Corps à corps, ventre à ventre et leurs cons chair à chair.
    2. Je n’aime pas à voir la douce concubine Qu’on encule toujours et qui, d’un doigt lascif Se branle le bouton, se tire la barbiche, Pour soulager son cul douloureux et passif
    3. Je n’aime pas à voir cette Sappho mascule Qui, dans sa chambre, habille une fille en garçon, Lui baisse la culotte et froidement l’encule Avec un godmiché plus gros qu’un saucisson.
    4. Je n’aime pas à voir la vierge au doigt lubrique Qui, les deux pieds en l’air, masturbe sur le lit Son pucelage en rut, gonflé, couleur de brique, Et décharge en baisant le roman qu’elle lit.
    5. Je n’aime pas à voir le garçon sur la fille Donner des coups au cul et danser le galop Aux applaudissements de toute la famille Qui dit : « Ça vient, putain ! Fais-la jouir, salop ! »
    6. Je n’aime pas à voir la princesse de Grèce, Qui, menée au bordel par sa fille d’honneur, Frotte sa bouche obscène au cul de la négresse Et crie en déchargeant : « C’est là qu’est le bonheur ! »
    7. Je n’aime pas à voir dans un bal de familles Que l’hôtesse dispose une chambre d’ami Et des lits de repos, au gré des jeunes filles, Pour sucer leurs danseurs ou se faire mimi.
    Contributors: Artist: Erika Plehn [née Erika Pinkus] (German, 1904 – 1988) Author: Pierre Louÿs (French, 1870 – 1925) Full text: Pybrac (Louÿs) Ref.: www.honesterotica.com  
  • FABLES | DE FLORIAN | ILLUSTRÉES | PAR J.-J. GRANDVILLE , | SUIVIES | DE TOBIE ET RUTH , | Poëmes tirés de l'Ecriture Sainte | ET | PRECEDEES D'UNE NOTICE SUR LA VIE ET LES OUVRAGES DE FLORIAN , | PAR P.-J. STAHL. | [Vignette] PARIS. | J.-J. DUBOCHET ET Cie , ÉDITEURS , | 1842. Pagination: ffl, [2 blanks] [i, ii - ht/imp.] [2 - blank/engr. t.p. by Grandville] [iii, iv - t.p./blank] [v] vi-xx; 2 sheets of plates, [3] 4-292, bfl; engraved t.p. + [79] leaves of plates + 5 faux t.p. (total 85 plates) Size: In-8vo, 23.8 x 15 cm. Binding: Orig. blind-stamped navy cloth with gilt Grandville characters to boards and spine. First edition, first printing. Reference: Léopold Carteret (Le trésor du bibliophile. Epoque romantique. 1801-1875 / Livres illustrés du XIXe siècle. – Paris: L. Carteret; imprim. Lahure, 1927). Wood engravers: Adolphe Best (French, 1808 – 1860): 22 plates Louis-Henri Brévière (French, 1797 – 1869): 3 plates Brugnot (French, active 19th century): 7 plates Prosper-Adolphe-Léon Cherrier (French, born 1806): 6 + Tobie et Ruth + vignettes Louis Dujardin (French, 1808 – 1859): 2 plates Monogram GO–> (possibly for Godard) : 1 plate Halley-Hiback (French, 19th century): 1 + vignette Henri-Désiré Porret (French, 1800–1867): 2 + vignette Lacoste père et fils aîné et Auguste-Alexandre Guillaumot (French, 1815 – 1892): 5 plates Quichon (French, 19th century): 10 plates + Tobie et Ruth François Rouget (Belgian, born bef., 1825): 19 + vignette Unsigned or with an illegible signature: 6 plates
  • Fables de La Fontaine / édition illustrée par J. J. Grandville (in 2 volumes). – Paris: H. Fournier Ainé, Perronin, 1838. Imp. H. Fournier et Ce, 14 rue de Seine (Premier Tirage). Vol 1: [2 - ht, imprim.] [2 - blank with handwritten inscription, frontis.] [2 - t.p., blank], [ [i] ii-xxviii - épitre, préface, [2 - plate 'fables', [1] 2 - dedication, [3, 4 - pltate: livre 1, blank] [5, 6 - plate: blank, cigale] [7] 8 - fab.1 (the subsequent plates are not paginated) - 292. (245-246 - Avertissement), (247-248 - A mamdam de Montespan); Wood engravings: frontispiece + half-title Fables + 7 running half-titles Livres des Fables + 72 plates. Vol. 2: [2 - ht, imprim.] [2 - t.p., blank] [1, 2 - plate 'livre 8', blank] [3] 4-312 (191-192 épilogue), (195-196 Au duc de Bourgogne), (268 - fin des fables), (269-296 Philemon et Baucis | D. O. M. | La Martone Déphèse | Belphegor), (297 -308 notice), (309-312 table); Wood engravings: 5 running half-titles Livres des Fables + 1 half-title Philemon et Baucis  + 48 plates. Size: 8vo, 23.2 x 15 cm. Binding: Full tree-calf, flat spine stamped with gilt, red and brown labels with gilt lettering, marbled endpapers. Handwritten nut ink inscription to blank recto of frontispiece: the history of Millet-Fontaine family (provenance?) There were two print-runs in the year 1838. According to Léopold Carteret (Le trésor du bibliophile. Epoque romantique. 1801-1875 / Livres illustrés du XIXe siècle. – Paris: L. Carteret; imprim. Lahure, 1927, pp. 357-9), the first run (Premier Tirage) published by H. Fournier and Perrotin, while the Second Tirage by H. Fournier Ainé. Though, the initial cap character "N" at p. xiii (vie d'Ésope) in this copy is formed by 'faite de lignes bouclées' as in the first print-run, rather than by 'petits carreaux noirs et blances' as in the second. We can conclude with confidence that this copy belongs to Premier Tirage. Wood engravings (135 plates, including frontispiece, and numerous headpieces and initial letters) were cut by the following artists (the first number is the number of the chapter ('livre'), the second – the number of the fable within the 'livre': Wood engravers: John Bastin, (British, fl. 1840 – 1850): 6-6, 7-13, and 8-9. Alexandre Belhatte (French, born in 1811): 3-11 and chapter title pages to 'livres' 6, 11, 12, headpices on p. 117 in vol. 2, and 'Philemon et Baucis' section title page. J. Constantine Beneworth (active France, 19th century): 1-6. Louis-Henri Brévière (French, 1797 – 1869): 1-10, 2-7, 6-10, 6-21, 7-4, 8-10, 8-27, 9-3, 10-4, 12-11, frontispice, together with François-Louis Français (French, 1814–1897), and 'Fin des fables' tailpiece. Brévière et Hébert: Louis-Henri Brévière (French, 1797 – 1869) and César-Auguste Hébert (French, active 19th century): 1-1, 1-2, 1-13, 1-18, 2-2, 2-11, 3-1, 3-3, 3-4, 3-18, 4-20, 4-21, 4-22, 5-5, 5-20, 6-2, 6-8, 7-3, 8-7, 8-12, 8-14, 8-17, 9-14, 10-6, 10-16, 11-6, 12-4, 12-25. Joseph-Hippolyte-Jules Caqué (French, 1814 – 1885): 7-11 and headpieces on p. 251 in vol. 1 and on p. 197 in vol. 2. Prosper-Adolphe-Léon Cherrier (French, born 1806): 8-6. Henry Isidore Chevauchet (French, fl. 1837 – 1850): 1-19, 2-4, and 4-5. Louis Dujardin (French, 1808 – 1859): 10-9. Pierre-François Godard (French, 1768 – 1838): 1-5, 1-16, 5-2, and 10-11. Charles David Laing (British, fl. 1836 – 1853): 7-9. Lacoste père et fils aîné et Auguste-Alexandre Guillaumot (French, 1815 – 1892): 1-4, 1-20, 9-17, and 11-5. Laisné (Alfred, Adèle, and Aglaé) (French, active 1835–1868): 5-8, 6-5, 6-17, 8-2, 8-15, 9-9, 9-10, 11-1, 11-8, 12-10. (Alfred, Adèle, and Aglaé) Laisné (French, active 1835–1868): 5-8, 6-5, 6-17, 8-2, 8-15, 9-9, 9-10, 11-1, 11-8, 12-10. Théodore Maurisset (French, fl. 1834 – 1859): 2-14 and 6-13. Antoine-Alphée Piaud (French, 1813 – 1867): 1-17, 2-9, 2-16, 4-1, 4-4, 5-15, 5-17, 5-18, 5-21, 8-22, 8-23, 8-25, 9-19, 10-13, 11-3, 11-9, 12-13, 12-15, 12-21, three 'livres': 3, 9, 10, and headpiece on p. 71 in vol. 2. Roux-Jourdain: Two 'livre' title pages, 1 and 2. John Orrin Smith (British, 1799 – 1843): 2-13, 2-18, 3-9, 3-14, 4-9, and 4-14.L. Chauchefoin (French): 2-3 and 5.13. Matthew Urlwin Sears (British, 1799 – 1870): 10-1 and 12-9. Monogram TM or MT (possibly for Théodore Maurisset): 6-16 and 10-3. Monogram GO–> (possibly for Godard) : 5-3, 7-1, and 9-5. Monogram B and BV: 4-11, 12-6, 'livre' 4, and headpieces on p. 1 in vol. 1 and on p. 167 in vol. 2. Unsigned or with an illegible signature: "fables' section title, 1-3, 1-9, 3-5, 3-8, 4-15, 4-18, 5-10, 7-7, 7-16, 9-2, 9-4, 12-2, 12-3, 12-17, and two 'livre' title pages, 5 and 8. Little is know about Matthew Urlwin Sears. He was a wood engraver of good reputation who is known to have worked in London in the early 1820s, Paris and Leipzig. Listed as "wood engraver" on records of the UK Printing Historical Society. Work The British Museum owns three of his earliest published works, engravings for Northcote's Fables (1828). He authored "Specimen of stereotype ornaments, 1825" which was reprinted as a facsimile in 1990 by the Printing Historical Society (London), with a foreword by James Mosley. He is mentioned by Pierre Gusman in "La Gravure sur Bois en France" (Paris, 1929). Laurent's Histoire de l'Empereur Napoleon, (1839) is one of many publications on which both Sears and his partner John Quartly worked, as well as numerous other engravers. His work appeared in "Aunt Effie's Rhymes" (1852) and "Uncle Tom's Cabin", by Harriet Beech Stowe (Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1853) [Claire-Juliette Beale, December 2009].
  • Etching and drypoint on wove paper, depicting a woman with a face mask on her buttocks. Monogrammed in the plate 'FR'. Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.

    Dimensions: Papaer: 22.2 x 18.5 cm; Plate: 17.5 x 13.3 cm; Image: 15.5 x 12 cm.

    Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 448; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 106; Rouir 648.

  • Sanguine print on toned China paper pasted on cream wove paper sheet, depicting a dressed-up man trying to copulate with a hanged sow. Inscription on top of the plate: "Ne faites pas aux truies ce que vous ne voudriez pas qu'on vous fit", and below: "Visection" (sic.). Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.

    Dimensions: Paper: 26.8 x 20.6 cm; India paper: 21.5 x 16.2 cm; Image: 19.3 x 14.2 cm.

    Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 661; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 42.

  • Hardcover, 333 x 247 mm, black cloth with gilt facsimile to front board and gilt lettering to spine, aubergine dust jacket with white lettering and red facsimile over black panel to front and back, crimson endpapers, laid paper, unpaginated; pp.: [4] h.t./blank, t.p./imprint, [2] text by John Hollander, 61 leaves of plates; originally published in 1969 by Rhinoceros Press, New York, as a limited-edition portfolio with slipcase. Title-page: Fornicon | (in frame) BY TOMI UNGERER | GROVE PRESS  NEW YORK || Jean-Thomas [Tomi] Ungerer (French,1931 – 2019) John Hollander (American, 1929 – 2013)
  • Title: GEORGE CRUIKSHANK'S | OMNIBUS. | ILLUSTRATED WITH ONE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL | AND WOOD. | "De omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis." | EDITED BY LAMAN BLANCHARD, ESQ. | LONDON : | TILT AND BOGUE, FLEET STREET. | MDCCCXLII. Pagination: ffl, [2] – blanks [i, ii] – blank / engraved t.p. w/guard, [iii, iv] – t.p., colophon] [v], vi – contents, [vii, viii] – h.t. / blank, [ix] – list of etchings on steel, [x] – list of wood-cuts, [2] – blank, frontis. engraves portrait of G. Cruikshank; [1] 2-300 [2] – blanks, bfl; 22 full-page steel engravings (three not by Cruikshank) and 78 woodcuts. As per A. M. Cohn: i-ii+i-viii+1-2+1-300. Binding: 24 x 14 cm, later full red morocco by Kelly and Sons with gilt and embossed designs to covers, designs, title and year lettering to spine, facsimile in gilt of Cruikshank's signature to front cover, gilt line to inner edges, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Armorial bookplate of Harold A. Wernher of Luton Hoo to front pastedown. Major-General Sir Harold Augustus Wernher (1893 – 1973) – British military officer. Originally bound in green, then red cloth, this binding by Kelly and Sons (Packer, Maurice. Bookbinders of Victorian London. London: British Library, 1991 page 84). A. M. Cohn № 190, p. 65-66. Motto translation: (About all things and something more besides).
  • Title: GEORGE CRUIKSHANK'S | TABLE-BOOK. | EDITED BY | GILBERT ABBOTT À BECKETT. | ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. | LONDON : | PUBLISHED AT THE PUNCH OFFICE, 92, FLEET STREET ; | AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. | MDCCCXLV.|| Pagination: ffl [2 blanks] [i, ii - engaved t.p. w/guard, verso blank] [iii], iv - letterpress t.p., colophon] [v], vi - list of engravings on still and on wood, [vii] viii - contents [2 - blank, engraved frontispiece] [1] 2-284 [2 blanks] bfl; 12 full-page steel etchings and 116 woodcuts and glyphographs by G. Cruikshank. Binding: Hardcover, 4to, 24.4 x 17 cm, later full red morocco by Kelly and Sons with gilt and embossed designs to covers, designs, title and year lettering to spine, facsimile in gilt of Cruikshank's signature to front cover, gilt line to inner edges, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Armorial bookplate of Harold A. Wernher of Luton Hoo to front pastedown. Major-General Sir Harold Augustus Wernher (1893 – 1973) – British military officer. Originally bound in red cloth, this binding by Kelly and Sons (Packer, Maurice. Bookbinders of Victorian London. — London: British Library, 1991 page 84). Title without the bottom section with lettering, on top lacking the 'Price one shilling', № 1, Vol. 1. inscriptions. Catalogue raisonné: A. M. Cohn № 191, p. 66-67.  
  • Vol. 1: Title page (red and black): THE | COMIC HISTORY OF ENGLAND • | BY GILBERT ABBOTT A'BECKETT. | {vignette with one line caption} | WITH TEN COLOURED ETCHINGS AND ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY | WOODCUTS, | BY JOHN LEECH. | VOL. I. | PUBLISHED AT THE PUNCH OFFICE, 85, FLEET STREET. | MDCCCXLVII. || Pagination: [iii-iv] – t.p. / imprint., [v]-vi – preface, [vii]-viii – contents, [ix]-xii – list of ills. [1] 2-320, lacking half-title otherwise as called for by Tooley (1935) p. 161. Collation: 8vo; π3 b2 B-X8 plus 10 plates, incl. frontispiece, of hand-coloured steel engravings and 120 in-text woodcuts by John Leech. Vol. 2: Title page: similar but “VOL. II.” And “MDCCCXLVIII”; typeface “with ten coloured…” is different (sans serif). Pagination: [iii-iv] – t.p. / imprint., [v]-vi – advert., [vii]-viii – contents, [ix]-xii – list of ills. [1] 2-304, lacking half-title otherwise as called for by Tooley (1935) p. 161. Collation: 8vo; π3 b2 B-U8 X2 plus 10 plates, incl. frontispiece, of hand-coloured steel engravings and 120 in-text woodcuts by John Leech. Binding: two volumes 22 x 14.5 cm each uniformly bound in full tan calf with gilt double-fillet border, spine gilt in compartments with red and green morocco labels lettered in gilt, blind-stamped dentelle inside, blue marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, additional flyleafs at the front and end. Catalogue raisonné: Hardie p. 210-11; Abbey, Life № 434, p. 362; Tooley (1935) p. 161 Contributors: Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (British, 1811 – 1856) – author. John Leech (British, 1817 – 1864) – artist. Bradbury & Evans (Whitefriars); William Bradbury (British, 1799 – 1869); Frederick Mullett Evans (British, 1804 – 1870) – printer. Punch – publisher.
  • Woodcut pictorial title page (red and black): THE | COMIC | HISTORY | OF | ROME | By GILBERT ABBOTT À BECKETT. | ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN LEECH. | BRADBURY AND EVANS, 11, BOUVERIE STREET. || Pagination: [iii-iv] – t.p. / imprint., [v]-vi – preface, [vii]-viii – contents, [ix]-xii – list of ills., [1] 2-308, lacking half-title (i-ii) otherwise as called for by Tooley (1935) p. 162. Collation: π1 b4 B-U8 X2 plus 10 plates, incl. frontispiece, of hand-coloured steel engravings and 98 in-text woodcuts by John Leech. Imprint: “LONDON: | BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.”; same in the colophon on p. 308, in one line. Binding: 22 x 14.5 cm, full tan calf with gilt double-fillet border, spine gilt in compartments with red morocco label lettered in gilt, blind-stamped dentelle inside, marbled endpapers, additional flyleaf at the end (binding similar to 2-volume “The Comic History of England” LIB-2847.2021, making three volumes in total). Edition: 1st thus (in book form), without “and Co.” in the imprint on t.p. verso. Catalogue raisonné: Tooley (1935) p. 162. Catalogue raisonné: Hardie p. 210; Abbey, Life № 435, p. 365-6; Tooley (1935) p. 162. Contributors: Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (British, 1811 – 1856) – author. John Leech (British, 1817 – 1864) – artist. Bradbury & Evans (Whitefriars); William Bradbury (British, 1799 – 1869); Frederick Mullett Evans (British, 1804 – 1870) – printer.