//Wit and humor
  • Hardcover, 23 x 17 x 4.7 cm, burgundy buckram, bevelled boards, blind geometrical design with a gilt medallion at the centre, gilt lettering and blind design elements to spine, text in frame, all edges red; pp.: [i-v] vi-xvi, [1] 2-494, [2 advert.], [1] 2-32 advert.], collation 4to: a-b4, B-3R4, a16. Title-page (red and black, in red frame): A HISTORY | OF | CARICATURE & GROTESQUE | {gothic letters} In Literature and Art. | By THOMAS WRIGHT, Esq., M.A., F.S.A., | Hon. M.R.S.L., &c.; | Corresponding Member of the Imperial Institute of France | (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres). |{double rules} | WITH | ILLUSTRATIONS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES, | DRAWN AND ENGRAVED BY | F. W. FAIRHOLT, Esq., F.S.A. | {double rules} | {gothic letters} London : | VIRTUE BROTHERS & CO., 1, AMEN CORNER, | PATERNOSTER ROW. | 1865. Contributors : Thomas Wright (British, 1792 – 1849) – author. Frederick William Fairholt (British, 1814 – 1866) – artist/engraver. Virtue Brothers & Co. (London) – publisher/printer.
  • 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)
  • Small softcover volume, édition minuscule’ in-32, 13 x 8 cm, publisher’s wrappers, pp.: [1-6] (h.t., t.p., advert.), [7] 8-160 [2 table/blank], included in pagination 8 pasted etchings on India paper after Félicien Rops and one blank leaf next to plate 1; laid paper with watermarks, some pages uncut. Title-page: DOCUMENTS | POUR SERVIR A L’HISTOIRE DE NOS MŒURS | – | LES | BAS-FONDS | DE LA SOCIÉTÉ | PAR | HENRY MONNIER | AVEC | 8 dessins à la plume | de F. R. | {fleuron} | ÉDITION MINUSCULE | tirée | à 64 exemplaires. || Pencil handwriting on top: 8 gravures de Felicien Rops | 250 –, in the bottom: [1879]. Print run: 64 copies; clandestine edition. Catalogue raisonné: Vicaire V, 1019; Bory p. 100 (though here is the frontispiece for Les Bas-fonds de la société par Joseph Prudhomme [Henry Monnier], 1864, with all the sheets together; Dutel I, A-134. Ref: (1) Poulet-Malassis & ses amis № 90 [LIB-3118.2022] ; (2) Félicien Rops: L'oeuvre graphique complète. / Ouvrage établi et présenté par Jean-François Bory. Avec un texte contemporain de l'artiste par J. K. Huysmans. — Arthur Hubschmidt, 1977. [LIB-2241.2019] Contributors: Henry Monnier (French, 1799 – 1877) – author. Félicien Rops (Belgian, 1833 – 1898) – artist. Henry Kistemaeckers (Belgian, 1851 – 1934) – publisher. Auguste Poulet-Malassis (French, 1825 – 1878)
  • 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.
  • Softcover, collated 8vo, 19.5 x 14.2 cm, French flapped wrappers, lettering to front: MANUEL | DE | CIVILITÉ | POUR LES | PETITES FILLES | À L’USAGE DES | MAISONS D’ÉDUCATION | {checks} ||; printed on BFK Rives wove paper with watermark, with blue vertical and horizontal lines to imitate notebook checkered paper; pp.: [8] [1-15] 16-177 [7]; π4 1-118 124; total 96 leaves (192 pages), incl. those in wrappers. Cardboard double slipcase with vellum spine lettered in black: MANUEL | DE | CIVILITÉ | POUR | LES PETITES | FILLES ||. Title-page: similar to cover, within the frame: MANUEL | DE | CIVILITÉ | POUR LES | PETITES FILLES | À L’USAGE DES | MAISONS D’ÉDUCATION | {checks} || Edition: 1st clandestine limited edition of 600 copies of which 1 copy on papier de chine (№ 1), 15 copies on japon impérial (№№ 2-16), 20 copies on papier de Hollande (№№ 17-36), and 564 copies on vélin de Rives (№№ 37-600) ; this is copy № 473. Enrichment: Accompanied by 5 loose sheets of thin paper blind stamped in the upper-left corner “WHATMAN” with pencil and watercolour drawings, one on both sides, unsigned. Insert two printouts from the previous sellers. Catalogue raisonné: Pia 800/801; Dutel (III) 1916 (indicates 180 pp.). Nordmann II 315 describes copy № 246 illustrated with 86 compositions by Rojankovsky, all signed by Rojan. Later edition, see: LIB-2972.2022. Contributors: Pierre Louÿs (French, 1870 – 1925) Feodor Rojankovsky [Rojan, Фёдор Степанович Рожанковский] (Russian-American, 1891 – 1970).
  • Two volumes 23.2 x 15.6 cm, uniformly bound in full polished calf by Riviere and Son (signed on fep verso), boards with triple gilt fillet border, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, gilt-lettered labels; dark blue endpapers, armorial bookplate of William Jennings with the motto “Honor Virtutis Premium” to front pastedown. Vol. 1: THE | ENGLISH SPY: | An Original Work | CHARACTERISTIC, SATIRICAL, AND | HUMOROUS. | COMPRISING | SCENES AND SKETCHES IN EVERY RANK OF SOCIETY, | BEING | PORTRAITS | OF THE | Illustrious, Eminent, Eccentric, and Notorious. | DRAWN FROM THE LIFE | BY BERNARD BLACKMANTLE. | THE ILLUSTRATIONS | DESIGNED BY | ROBERT CRUIKSHANK. | {vignette w/inscription: ‘By Frolic, Mirth, and Fancy gay, | Old Father Time is borne away.’ | — |  LONDON : | PUBLISHED BY SHERWOOD, JONES, AND CO. | PATERNOSTER-ROW. | – | 1825. || Collation: [a]8 b4 B-H8 I4 K2 L-Z8 2A-2E8 2F3; total 221 leaves Pagination: [i-iii] iv-xxiii [xxiv] [1-3] 4-417 [418]; total 442 pages. Illustrations: 35 coloured plates, 1 uncoloured plate, and 29 woodcuts in text, incl vignette on title, all but four by Robert Cruikshank, 1 by G. M.B rightly (p. 335), 1 by T. Wageman (p. 413), and 2 by T. Rowlandson (pp. 411 and 416) Vol. 2: THE | ENGLISH SPY: | An Original Work | CHARACTERISTIC, SATIRICAL, AND | HUMOROUS. | COMPRISING | SCENES AND SKETCHES IN EVERY RANK OF SOCIETY, | BEING | PORTRAITS | OF THE | Illustrious, Eminent, Eccentric, and Notorious. | DRAWN FROM THE LIFE | BY BERNARD BLACKMANTLE. | THE ILLUSTRATIONS | DESIGNED BY | ROBERT CRUIKSHANK. | — | VOL. II. | — | {vignette w/inscription: ‘By Frolic, Mirth, and Fancy gay, | Old Father Time is borne away.’ | — |  LONDON : | PUBLISHED BY SHERWOOD, GILBERT, AND PIPER, | PATERNOSTER-ROW. | – | 1826. || Collation: [A]-Z8 2A-2C8; total 208 leaves. [i-iii] iv-xv [xvi] [1-3] 4-399 [400]; total 416 pages. Illustrations: 36 coloured plates and 25 woodcuts in text. Catalogue raisonné: Martin-Hardie pp. 191-2; Tooley pp. 266-9; Abbey 325, pp.272-4 (see reflections regarding the ‘first issue’). Contributors: Charles Molloy Westmacott (British, c. 1788 – 1868) – author. Isaac Robert Cruikshank (British, 1789 – 1856) – artist, engraver. G. M. Brightly (British, fl. 1809 – 1827) – artist, engraver. Thomas Charles Wageman (British, 1787-1868) – artist, engraver Thomas Rowlandson (British, 1757 – 1827) – artist. Thomas Davison (British, 1794 – 1826) – printer. Sherwood, Jones, and Co. (London) – publisher. Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper (London) – publisher. William Jennings – provenance
  • One volume collated 8vo, 19 x 14 cm, bound in black alligator leather. Front wrapper  (green) / title-page (white): A female figure smoking a pipe next to a beer mug, reclining over an arch ring lettered “…VERSITÉ” (UNI… not shown), her dress ribbon lettered “MUSA STUDIORUM”, holding a book lettered “SCIENTIA”; within the arch « ALMANACH | CROCODILIEN | DÉDIÉ | AUX ÉTUDIANTS BELGES. | BIBLIOTHÈQUE | DE LA JEUNESSE MUSULMANE. »; below lies a book lettered “1856.”, next to it is a smoking skull; three male figures embracing the arch columns. Half-title: ALMANACH CROCODILIEN | POUR | L’ANNÉE BISSEXTILE, MAIS NÉANMOINS DE GRACE | 1856. || Pagination: [1-5] 6-14 [15-41] 42-134 [137] 138, total 136 pages within the wrappers, original publisher's green wrappers preserved, carte de visite ‘Félicien Rops, Étudiant’ and pink invitation card № 129 for ‘Bal des femmes’ on March 19, 1892 at ‘Fête annuelle du Courier Français’ bound in; in-text woodcuts, initials, head- and tail-pieces after Félicien Rops. Bookplate “Ex Libris Marcellus Schlimovich” with motto “Ars naturam adiuvat” on front pastedown. Stamp of the "Sociedad Hebraica Argentina / Coleccion M. Schlimovich / Varios / No. 2-492” to half-title. Pencil inscription to half-title: "Ex. Félicien Rops" – possibly an own copy of the artist. Collation: π2 1-88 92, total 68 leaves within wrappers. Printer: Typ. de J. Vanbuggenhoudt (Bruxelles). Sociedad Hebraica Argentina; Marcelo Schlimovich (Argentine-Jewish, ca. 1880 – 1960) – provenance. Félicien Rops (Belgian, 1833 – 1898) – artist.
  • Description: In-8vo volume, 19.4 x 14 cm, bound in red cloth with gilt lettering to front cover and spine, in a pictorial dust jacket with a photo portrait of the author by Kay Bell to the rear, DJ and in-text illustrations by Maurice Sendak; pp. [i-x] xi-xvii [xviii] [2] 3-190, total 208 pages. Dust Jacket front: You Can't | Get There | From Here | {vignette} | OGDEN NASH || Title-page: OGDEN NASH | You Can't Get There | From Here | {vignettes} | DRAWINGS BY MAURICE SENDAK | Boston • LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY • Toronto || Edition: 1957, 8th printing; (1st edition in 1953) Contributors: Ogden Nash (American, 1902 – 1971) – author. Maurice Sendak (Jewish-American, 1928 – 2012) – artist. Kay Bell Reynal (American, 1905 – 1977) – photographer.
  • Description: Two parts in one volume, collated 4to, 26.3 x 18 cm, bound in quarter green pebbled morocco over green percaline panelled boards, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, lettered in gilt, signed in the bottom “L. Curmer”; marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Part 1 is illustrated with a hand-coloured wood-engraved title-page by Porret and Blanadet and 28 hand-coloured steel engravings by Charles Geoffroy after J.-J. Grandville; part 2 is illustrated with a hand-coloured wood-engraved title-page by Quichon and 22 steel engravings by Charles Geoffroy after J.-J. Grandville, and two uncoloured botanical plates, unsigned. Title-page: LES | FLEURS ANIMÉES | PAR | J.-J. GRANDVILLE | INTRODUCTIONS | Par ALPH. KARR | TEXTE | Par TAXILE DELORD | — | PREMIÈRE (DEUXIÈME) PARTIE | — | PARIS | GABRIEL DE GONET, ÉDITEUR | 6, RUE DES BEAUX-ARTS, 6 || Collation: part 1: blank, [1] h.t./imprint (PARIS WALDER), hand-coloured engraved t.p., [1] t.p./blank, 1-324, [1] contents/blank, 28 hand-coloured plates; part 2: [1] h.t./imprint (PARIS WALDER), hand-coloured engraved t.p., [1] t.p./blank, [2] intro., [1]-294, 302, blank, 22 hand-coloured plates and 2 uncoloured plates. Pagination: part 1: [1-5] 6-260 [2] (total 262 pages), ils; part 2: [4] [i] ii-iv [1] 2-102, [2] [i] ii-iv, [105] 106-234 [2] (total 248 pages), ils. Coloured steel-engraved plates: Part 1: Bleuet et Coquelicot. Lis. Pensée. Tabac. Tulipe. Rose. Narcisse. Violette. Nenuphar. Laurier. Myrte. Marguerite. Camelia. Immortelle. Chèvre-feuille. Belle-de-nuit. Oeillet. Ciguë. Soleil. Fleur de grenadier. Lin. Eglantine. Pavot. Chardon. Fleur d'oranger. Capucine. Guimauve. Primevère – Perce-neige. Part 2: Pois de senteur. Cactus. Dahlia. Sensitive. Fleur de pêcher. Aubépine. Vigne. Myosotis. Jasmin. Scabieuse & Souci. Traite des fleurs. Flèche-d'eau. Hortensia, couronne impériale. Verveine. Giroflée. Thé et Café. Lilas. Tubéreuse Jonquille. Bal. Retour des fleurs. Erratum. Pervenche desséchée. Plates signed "Grandville del. – Ch. Geoffroy sc. – G. de Gonet, editeur" but some signed "Imp. Delamain et Sarazin rue Git le Cœur 8 Paris." Plates accompanied by tissue guards. Gordon N. Ray: "Most of the plates show an elegant lady in a garden, her dress covered with an extraordinary pattern of flowers. She is sometimes accompanied by respectful creatures, animals and insects, even fish and reptiles". Edition: 2nd edition of 1847, each part has separate pagination; imprint: "Paris. — Typographie Walder, rue Bonaparte, 44". Second "tirage", the volumes being paged separately; the first "tirage", issued also in 1847, is paged continuously. Point of issue: Table des Matières has "Imprimerte Walder." Originally appeared in 83 separate parts in pictorial yellow wrappers. Contributors: J.-J. Grandville [Gèrard, Isidore-Adolphe] (French, 1803 – 1847) – artist. Taxile Delord (French, 1815 – 1877) – author. Comte Foelix [Louis-François Raban] (French, 1795 – 1870) – author. Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (French, 1808 – 1890) – author. Charles Michel Geoffroy (French, 1819 – 1882) – engraver (on steel). Gabriel de Gonet (French, fl. 1847 – 1862) – publisher. Typographie Walder (Paris) – printer. Plon Freres (Paris) – printer. Delamain et Sarrazin (Paris) – printer. Henri Désiré Porret (French, 1800 – 1867) – engraver (on wood). Jules Blanadet (French, 1824 – ?) – engraver (on wood). Quichon (French, fl. c. 1850s) – engraver (on wood). Catalogue raisonné: L. Carteret (Le trésor): p. 286; Ray (French): 198, pp. 278-9; Vicaire (Manuel): D III, p. 133-4; Brivois (Guide): pp. 147-150. In collections: MET 1970.565.423.1–.2Vanderbilt University; V&A L.755-1943. Provenance: Léon Curmer (French, ).
  • Description: Softcover 25 x 17 cm in the publisher’s French flapped wrappers lettered to front in black and green « Pierre Louys | MANUEL | DE | CIVILITÉ | POUR LES PETITES FILLES | à l'usage | des | maisons d'éducation » in a frame; unbound, 14 loose bifold wove paper (BFK Rives) sheets collated 4to, in glassine dust jacket, in slipcase; pp.: [1-10] 11-104 [8], total 56 leaves plus 12 laid-in plates after an anonymous artist’s watercolours and drawings reproduced by photogravure and stencil-coloured (au pochoir). Title-page: MANUEL | DE | CIVILITÉ | POUR LES PETITES FILLES | à l'usage | des | maisons d'éducation | ~ | LONDERS | MCMXLVIII || Limitation: 299 copies of which 1 copy (№ UN) on Vieux Japon enriched with the original watercolours and drawings and a b/w suite; 6 copies on Auvergne, each with one original watercolour and a b/w suite (№ I-VI); 6 copies on Auvergne each with one original drawing and a b/w suite (№ VII-XII); 15 copies on Auvergne enriched with a b/w suite (№ XVIII-XXVIII); 271 copies on Vélin de Rives (№ 1-271). This is copy № 91. Publisher, printer, artists – anonymous and unknown. Clandestine edition, marked "London", i.e. Nice, France. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel (1920-1970) № 1920, p. 251. For the original edition, see: LIB-3116.2022.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.