• Quinze poèmes d'Emile Verhaeren. Illustrés de 57 gravures sur bois dessinées et gravées par Frans Masereel et suivis d'un 'Souvenir à Verhaeren' par Octave Uzanne. — Paris: Éditions Georges Crès, 1917. Authors: Emile Verhaeren (text), Frans Masereel (illustrations), Octave Uzanne (text). Publisher: Éditions Georges Crès. [Georges-Célestin Crès (1875 - 1935) was a French publisher and bookseller. Address: 116 boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris]. Printer: Sonor S.A. - Geneve, under the direction of Auguste Jordanis. The number of copies printed: 1555 of which 15 (1-15) on Japan paper, 190 (16-205) on Fabriano paper, and 1350 (206-1555) on English paper (1506-1555 not for trade). This copy № 1312. Pagination: [i] - front cover, [ii] - half-title, [iii] - title, [iv] - printrun justification, [v] - table of contents, [vi] - blank, [i-vii] viii-ciii, [civ] - printer statement, [cv] - back cover; one-side (recto) printing and pagination. Owner's contemporary red half-Morocco with marbled boards; spine with four raised bands, gilt lettering and design elements. Original printed paper wrappers preserved. Marbled endpapers. Trimmed unevenly.  
  • Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863), seal: 彫竹 – Hori Take. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1845 – 1847). Combined date and kiwame seal: Ansei 5 (II-XII/1858). Size: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 300 x 232 mm.

    A young woman adjusting her hairpin on a balcony during the Tanabata festival, as inscribed on the white folding fan: [七夕] (Tanabata).

    Inscription on the blue book (print title): Early autumn [はつ秋や] (hatsu akiya), inscription on the purple book (series title): Short love songs, second volume [端唄の意 二編] (Hauta no kokoro nihen). According to Marks (2010), Hauta no kokoro nihen series of fan prints was published by Ibaya in 1858 (p. 267|P6871).

    The series refers to love songs of a certain type popular in late Edo. They were performed with the accompaniment of a shamisen, “Seven herbs of autumn, the song of the insects is not heard; the bodies of lightning bugs are burnt, and the precious writings of love are getting thinner like the song of the insects as I am waiting for you. So, on an early autumn evening, I spot the glitter of a lightning bug that lingered among the autumn grasses, and while listening to the pine cricket, I am singing with my heart troubled by love". [Tokyo National Museum; translation provided by Elena Varshavsky].

    Tanabata [たなばた] or [七夕] – meaning "Evening of the seventh", also known as the Star Festival [星祭] (Hoshi matsuri) is a Japanese festival originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. One popular Tanabata custom is to write one's wishes on a piece of paper and hang that piece of paper on a specially erected bamboo tree, in the hope that the wishes become true.

  • A shunga (erotic) print by Suzuki Harunobu  [鈴木 春信] (Japanese, c. 1725 – 1770) depicting a woman making love with a man in the palanquin (のりもの/乗り物) while the other woman "ties a sash about her hips below her obi."  The sheet is not signed; however, it is attributed to Harunobu. A reference image can be found in the Metropolitan Museum (NY) collection, Accession Number JP1635:

    http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45071

    According to the MET "the palanquin ... has carried these courtesans to the shore for a spring outing". Some time ago, a similar print was sold by Richard Kruml (description: A chuban shunga print showing the occupant of a kago in flagrante with one of the porters, having seized the opportunity of a stop on the journey. Published late 1760s. Rare). Another copy was sold at Sotheby's in Paris for €3,360 on November 27, 2002 (Lot 24), with a reproduction of the print's detail and description on p. 39: Suzuki Harunobu (1725 – 1770) | Shunga: couple dans un palanquin, vers 1768-1770, non-signe, cachet non identifé, cachets Charles Mitchell, Huguette Berès, Format chuban, 20.1 x 28.6 cm | 3000 – 4000 € | Il s’agit probablement de trois voyageurs, l’un d’entre eux debout près du palanquin faisant mine d’ignorer la scène. Bibliographie: Delay p. 87. Reference: [LIB-3121.2022] Sotheby's: Collection Huguette Berès – Estampes, dessins et livres illustrés japonais / 2 volumes; vol. 1. — Paris: Sotheby's, 2002.
  • Four parts bound in two 18mo volumes (1-2 & 3-4), half polished brown calf, dot-ruled, flat spine with gilt bands and lettering, marbled boards, some plates with guard sheets, margins sparkled red. Title-page: LES LIAISONS | DANGEREUSES, | Ou Lettres recueillies dans une | société, et publiées pour l’ins- | truction de quelques autres. | par  C….. de L… | — | J’ai vu les mœurs de mon temps, et j’ai publié | ces Lettres. | J. J. Rous. Préf. De la nouv. Hél. | PREMIÈRE PARTIE. | — | A GENEVE. | 1792. || Vol. 1: Pagination: ffep, blank, [2] – h.t., [i, ii] – t.p. part one, [iii] iv-xxij, [1] 2-245 [246] + 2 plates (p. 26 & p. 75); [1, 2] – h.t., [3, 4] – t.p. part two, [5] 6-233 [234], fep + 2 plates (p. 59 & p. 222). Collation: part 1: a12, A-M18 N5; part 2: A-M18 N9, plus four plates by various engravers after Le Barbier. Vol. 2: Pagination: ffep, blank, [1, 2] – h.t., [3, 4] – t.p. part three, [5] 6-225 [226] + 2 plates (p. 69 & p. 215); [1, 2] – h.t., [3, 4] – t.p. part four, [5] 6-250, fep + 2 plates (p. 25 & p. 201). Collation: part 3: A-M18 N5; part 4: A-N18 O5, plus four plates by various engravers after Le Barbier. Illustrations: After Le Barbier, engravers: Halbou (1), Simonet (1), N. Thomas (2), Dambrun (2), and Delignon (2). In the first illustration (vol. 1, part one, p. 26) Le Barbier signed “Le Barbier Jnv. 1794”, however, the edition was published (anonymously) in 1792. Cohen-De Ricci mentions an edition of 1794 (Paris: Maradan) and 1801 (Genéve) with the same plates. Lewine mentions a reprint of 1794 without naming the publisher. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-De Ricci: 234-5, Ray: p. 79; Lewine: 109-10. Contributors: Choderlos de Laclos, Pierre Ambroise François (French, 1741 – 1803) – author. Le Barbier, Jean-Jacques-François (French, 1738 – 1826) – artist Engravers: Dambrun, Jean (French, 1741 – c. 1808) Delignon, Jean Louis (French, 1755 – 1804) Halbou, Louis Michel (1730 – 1809) Thomas, N. (French, c. 1750 – 1812) Simonet, Jean-Baptiste Blaise (French, 1742 – 1813)
  • Title: GIACOMO CASANOVA | Chevalier de Seingalt | HISTORY OF MY LIFE | FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH IN ACCORDANCE | WITH THE ORIGINAL FRENCH MANUSCRIPT | By Willard R. Trask | With an Introduction by the Translator | VOLUMES 1 AND 2 | A Helen and Kurt Wolff book • Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966 | NEW YORK || Stated 1st edition. Pagination: [2 blank] [i-iv] v-viii, [1, 2] 3-330 [8 blanks] + 32 ills. Two volumes in one.
  • Казанова Д. Истрия моей жизни. — М.: Моск. рабочий, 1991. — 734 с. Составление, вступительная статья, комментарии А. Ф. Строева. Перевод И. К. Стаф, А. Ф. Строева, 1990. ISBN: 5—239—00590—7 Original title: Giacomo Casanova. Histoire de ma vie.
  • Hardcover, 20.8 x 13.2 cm; publisher's original green cloth with black and gilt lettering to front and spine; pictorial endpapers. Gift ms inscription from Irina Komarova to Yury and Elvina Varshavsky to front free endpaper's verso: "Прослышав, что теперь для Юры / Нет ничего милей гравюры, / Литературу я отныне / Дарю из принципа Эльвине! / И. / Февраль 86". Pp.: [2] 3-477 [3], collation 16mo: 1-1516 (total 240 leaves) plus portrait frontispiece. Title-page: Джон Фаулз | ПОДРУГА | ФРАНЦУЗСКОГО | ЛЕЙТЕНАНТА | РОМАН | Перевод с английского | М. Беккер и И. Комаровой | под редакцией Н. Рахмановой | {vignette} | {publisher’s device} | ЛЕНИНГРАД | «ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА» | ЛЕНИНГРАДСКОЕ ОТДЕЛЕНИЕ• 1985 || T.p. verso: […] | JOHN FOWLES | THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN | Вступительная статья А. ДОЛИНИНА | Примечания М. БЕККЕР | Оформление художников | Н. ВАСИЛЬЕВА и Э. КАПЕЛЮША | […] || Contributors: Беккер, Мэри Иосифовна (Russian, 1920 – 2010) Комарова, Ирина Бенедиктовна (Russian, b. 1933) Рахманова, Наталия Леонидовна (Russian, b. 1930)    
  • First MGM edition, original maroon cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold with decorations and lettering, partially darkened, wrap-around dust-jacket, chipped and torn near the head of spine with some loss, small chip and larger closed tear to lower panel. Photoplay edition. Film tie in edition for the 1926 French silent film which does not exist at this time in a full version. The front and rear panels depict scenes from the film. Bleiler (1978), p. 161. Not in Reginald (1979; 1992). Pagination: [2] – blank / advert., [2]  – t.p. / coloph., [4] –advert.  / editor's note, [2] – advert. / blank, [13] 14-251 [252: printer's imprint] [2] – blanks, note: [first and last leaves used as front and rear paste-downs]. Dimensions: 17 x 10.7 cm. Publisher: The Readers Library Publishing Company Ltd. (London). Publishing Year: 1927 (not indicated). Description of Shapero Rare Books, London: An attractive copy from this popular series of film editions, notable for their use of actors and scenes from the film version in question on the wrap-around dust-jacket, and sometimes photographic plates. A number of the film-makers involved were exiles from the Russian Revolution of 1917. The film's art direction was by Eduardo Gosch (Russian, American, 1890 – ?), César Lacca, Alexandre Lochakoff (Russian, French, fl. 1918–1939), Vladimir Meingard and Pierre Schild [Lakka Schildknecht] (Russian, Spanish, 1897 – 1968) who recreated the atmosphere of mid-nineteenth century Tsarist Russia. “Jules Verne has written no better book than this, in fact, it is deservedly ranked as one of the most thrilling tales ever written." Leonard S. Davidow, Classic Romances of Literature, 1937.
     
  • Front board: CASANOVA | Erinnerungen aus | galanter Zeit | Illustriert von | F.v. Bayros | {gigniette} | BERLIN | Verlegt bei Wilhelm Borngräber || Title: Giacomo Casanova | Erinnerungen aus galanter Zeit | Mit Bildern von F.v. Bayros | Eingeleitet von | Hanns Heinz Ewers | 66. Bis 70 Tausend | — | Wilhelm Borngräber Verlag | Berlin || Pagination: [2] , [1-4] 5-557 [558] [2] + frontispice + 5 plates (photogravures). Collation: 8vo; [1]8 2-358. Size: 18.8 x 13 x 4.3 cm Binding: hardcover, quarter cloth, paper boards with vignette and lettering, gilt lettering to spine. Note: the year and the edition were not stated and could not be inferred so far, probably one of the early editions between 1911 and 1925.
  • Title: THE NEW LIFE | OF DANTE ALIGHIERI | TRANSLATED BY | DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI | {Publisher's device} | Portland, Maine | THOMAS B. MOSHER | Mdccccv Pagination: Ffl [i-viii] ix-xii [xiii] [xiv blank], [1, 2] 3-97 [98] bfl; frontis. w/guard; Note: “This fourth edition on Van Gelder paper consists of 925 copies”. Binding: Hardcover, 18.2 x 10.2 cm, full brown morocco possibly by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, with embossed design elements, raised bands, gilt lettering to spine, TMG, other untrimmed; printed on laid paper with watermark.  
  • Two-volume set. MÉMOIRES | DE | JACQUES | CASANOVA | DE SEINGALT | 1734 — Extraits — 1755 | COLLIGÉS PAR | RÉNE GROOS | ILLUSTRATIONS | DE | BRUNELLESCHI | {vignette} | GIBERT JEUNE | LIBRAIRIE D’AMATEURS | 61, BOULEVARD DE SAINT-MICHEL, 61 | PARIS || Pagination: [6], 1-345 [346], [8]; frontispiece and 15 colour plates (collotype), b/w tail-pieces and vignettes (offset). MÉMOIRES | DE | JACQUES | CASANOVA | DE SEINGALT | 1755 — Extraits — 1772 | COLLIGÉS PAR | RÉNE GROOS | ILLUSTRATIONS | DE | BRUNELLESCHI | {vignette} | GIBERT JEUNE | LIBRAIRIE D’AMATEURS | 61, BOULEVARD DE SAINT-MICHEL, 61 | PARIS || Pagination: [6] 1-337 [348] [8]; frontispiece and 15 colour plates (collotype), b/w tail-pieces and vignettes (offset). Limited edition, №2507 of 3000. Binding: original tan pictorial wrappers, in a slipcase.  
  • Softcover, 242 x 165 mm, French flapped wrappers with black and red lettering to front and spine, top edge trimmed, pages uncut, printed on wove paper watermarked BFK Rives in italic script; illustrations in colour. Title: JEAN DE LA FONTAINE | LES AMOURS | DE | PSYCHÉ ET DE CUPIDON | ÉDITION CONFORME AUX TEXTES ORIGINAUX | ÉTABLIE PAR | LOUIS PERCEAU | ET ORNÉE D’ILLUSTRATIONS EN COULEURS | PAR | CARLÈGLE | LE LIVRE DU BIBLIOPHILE | GEORGES BRIFFAUT, ÉDITEUR | 4, RUE DE FURSTENBERG, PARIS | 1932 || Limited edition: 1230 copies of which this ic copy № 247. Collated 8vo: π4 1-24 3-48 58 *58 6-168 χ2, total 134 leaves, incl. frontispiece. Pagination: [8] 1-253 [254] [6]. Colophon: Le volume des Amours de Psyché et de Cupidon de La Fontaine a été achevé d'imprimer le quinze juin mil neuf cent trente-deux sur les presses du maitre imprimeur Coulouma, a Argenteul, H. Barthélemy étant directeur. Coloris de E. Charpentier, Paris.  
  • Title: L'ADAM | LASCIF | OU | LETTRES A LA MARQUISE |{fleuron}| AVEC | des figures finement gravées | pour animer par ces billets | fort galamment troussés | AU CARQUOIS D’ARGENT || Edition: Limited numbered edition of 252 copies, artist’s copy on Marais paper with watermark, final state. Pagination: [2] blanks, [2] h.t./tirage, [2] blank / exemplaire, [2] t.p. / blank, i-iii [iv], f.t. / blank; 13-183 [184] [2] blanks, [2] ex-libris / blank; frontispiece, 9 vignettes and 9 plates by Gaston Barret, dry point, sanguine; woodcut vignettes at the faux-title of each chapter. Binding: Unbound, in publisher's blue velour paper folder with gilt device to front cover, original wrappers with blue silhouette and grey medallions, in publisher's grey slipcase. Ref: (1) Jean-Pierre Dutel, Bibliographie des ouvrages érotiques publiés clandestinement en français entre 1920 et 1970, № 951, Inconnu à Pia. (2) Curiosa: An exhibition of illustrated erotic books 1987 — London: Hobart & Maclean, 1987, № 8. (3)  Honesterotica (793). Note: Most sources reference black prints, not sanguine. The publishing year was established by Jean-Pierre Dutel; in any case, it was published before the jury hearings at Cour d'Assises in Paris on May 29, 1956. The fact of hearings was not independently confirmed.
  • Description: Publisher’s blue cloth lettered in gilt to front cover and spine, spine darkened and rubbed at ends, upper joint starting, pictorial dust jacket with Ain Rand photograph portrait on the back, unclipped ($3,00). Title-page: The | FOUNTAINHEAD | By AYN RAND | THE BOBBS–MERRILL COMPANY, INC. | Publishers | INDIANAPOLIS {space} NEW YORK || Pagination: [1-6] 9-753 [754]. Edition: First edition, later printing; lacks "First edition" statement; blue cloth; photo on the back of DJ, p. 321 line 5 "referred", p. 480 "Domininque" twice.
  • ATLAS | SHRUGGED | AYN RAND | {Publisher's device} | RANDOM HOUSE | NEW YORK || Pagination: [2] - h.t. / advert., [2] – t.p. / colophon, [2] – dedication / blank, [2] – contents / cont., [1, 2] ¬ f.t. / blank, [3] 4-1168 [1169] blank, [1170/71] about the author [1172] blank, two blank leaves. Original green cloth with gilt lettering, black label with gilt lettering and publisher device to spine; top margin green, lateral margin untrimmed. Stated first edition, first printing. Original dust jacket with $6.95 printed price and 10/57 code present on the front flap.
  • Title: MAROUSSIA | PAR | P.-J. STAHL | D'APRÈS UNE LÉGENDE DE MARKOWOVZOK | DESSINS PAR TH. SCHULER | GRAVURES PAR PANNEMAKER | {vignette} | BIBLIOTHÈQUE | D'ÉDUCATION ET DE RÉCRÉATION | J. HETZEL ET Cie, 18, RUE JACOB | PARIS | Tous droits de reproduction et de traduction réservés || Pagination: [2] – t.p. / blank, [1, 2] – dedication / blank, [3] 4-272, [1] 2-11 [12] – publisher’s advert.; Frontispiece and 22 leaves of wood-engraved plates by F. Pannemaker after Th. Schuler, extraneous to collation, woodcut head- and tailpieces, vignettes in the text by Charles Baude. Collation: 4to; 1-344, + 6 leaves of publisher's advertisement. Binding: “Cartonnage Hetzel” – red cloth stamped in gilt and black with the elements of design to spine, front and back, publisher's device to back, AEG. Author and publisher: Pierre-Jules Hetzel [P.-J. Stahl] (French, 1814 – 1886). Artist: Jules Théophile Schuler (French, 1821 – 1878). Engravers: Adolphe François Pannemaker (Belgian-French, 1822 – 1900) and Charles Baude (French, 1853 – 1935). Author of the legend: Markowovzok [Marko Vovchok; Марко́ Вовчо́к, real name Mariya Vilinskаya; Мария Александровна Вилинская] (Ukrainian, 1833 – 1907). Series: Collection Hetzel (stamped on the front board). Typographie A. Lahure (Paris), Alexis Lahure (French, 1849 – 1929). MAROUSSIA – The French version of the Ukrainian name Маруся.  
  • Title page: PHROSINE | ET | MELIDORE, | POËME | EN QUATRE CHANTS. | A MESSINE, | Et se trouve A Paris, | Chez Le Jay, Libraire, au Grand Corneille, | rue S. Jacques. | M. DCC. LXXII. || Pagination : ffl, [2] – h.t. / blank, [2] t.p. / blank, [1] 2-55 [56 blank], bfl ; 4 copperplate engravings by Nicolas Ponce (French, 1746 – 1831) after Charles Eisen (French, 1720 – 1778), one before each chant. Collation: 8vo; π2 (h.t., t.p. ) A-C8 D4. Binding: 20.5 x 14 cm, full mottled calf, gilt-ruled with triple fillet, flat spine, gilt in compartments, black label with gilt lettering, printed on laid paper, all edges red. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen de Ricci p. 132; J. Lewine: p. 53. Contributors: Nicolas Ponce (French, 1746 – 1831) Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721–1777) Charles-Dominique-Joseph Eisen (French, 1720 – 1778) Pierre-Joseph Bernard [Gentil-Bernard] (French, 1708 – 1775).
  • Title: L'ART | D'AIMER, | ET | POÉSIES DIVERSES | DE M. BERNARD. Pagination: [2] – t.p. / stanza by Voltaire; engraved t. p., frontispiece, [1] 2-170; pp. 1-61 – L'art d'aimer; pp. 62-111 – Phrosine et Mélidore; pp. 112-170 – Poésies diverses; illustrations. Collation: 8vo; π1 (letterpress t.p.), A-K8 L5; + 8 plates: (1)* engraved title page facing the stanza by Ch. Baquoy; (2) plate as a frontispiece by Ponce after Ch. Eisen, inscribed Chant I above the image, dated 1772, facing p. [1], chant 1er of l’art; (3)* Ch. Baquoy after P. Martini, inscribed Chant II below the image, facing p. 22, chant 2nd of l’art; (4) Ch. Baquoy after Eisen, inscribed Chant III above the image, facing p. 44, chant 3rd of l’art; (5)* Patas after P. Martini, inscribed Chant Ier below the image, dated 1775, facing p. 62, chant 1er of Phrosine; (6) Ch. Baquoy after Eisen, inscribed Chant II above the image, facing p. 74, chant 2nd of Phrosine; (7)* C. Gaucher after P. Martini, facing p. 84, chant 3rd of Phrosine; (8) Ch. Baquoy after Eisen, inscribed Chant IV above the image, facing p. 97, chant 4th of Phrosine; * – images additional to 1772 edition by Le Jay [LIB-2706.2021] (i.e. plates 1, 3, 5, and 7 are new). A counterfeit edition by an anonymous publisher. Binding: brown pebbled morocco, triple fillet gilt-ruled boards, raised bands, gilt in compartments, gilt label lettering to spine, marbled endpapers, AMG; printed on laid paper, with tall 's'. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen, De Richi (1912): p. 132: describes a counterfeit edition with 170 pages and 3 additional plates plus an engraved title. This seems to be a combination of Lejan [sic] Paris 1775 edition, which normally has 134 pages, 8vo, title engraved by Baquoy and three plates after Martini by Patas, Baquoy and Gaucher. Contributors: Nicolas Ponce (French, 1746 – 1831) – engraver. Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721 – 1777) – engraver. Jean-Baptiste Patas (French, 1748 – 1817) – engraver. Charles-Étienne Gaucher (French, 1740 – 1804) – engraver. Charles-Dominique-Joseph Eisen (French, 1720 – 1778) – artist. Pietro Antonio Martini (Italian, 1738 – 1797) – artist. Pierre-Joseph Bernard [Gentil-Bernard] (French, 1708 – 1775) – author of the text.