BLACKWELL’S RARE BOOKS private press & illustrated books Blackwell’s Rare Books 48-51 Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BQ Direct Telephone: +44 (0) 1865 333555 Switchboard: +44 (0) 1865 792792 Email: [email protected] Fax: +44 (0) 1865 794143 www.blackwell.co.uk/rarebooks Our premises are in the main Blackwell book- shop at 48-51 Broad Street, one of the largest and best known in the world, housing over 200,000 new book titles, covering every subject, discipline and interest, as well as a large second- hand books department. There is lift access to each floor. The bookshop is in the centre of the city, opposite the Bodleian Library and Sheldo- nian Theatre, and close to several of the colleges and other university buildings, with on street parking close by. Oxford is at the centre of an excellent road and rail network, close to the London - Birmingham (M40) motorway and is served by a frequent train service from London (Paddington). Hours: Monday–Saturday 9am to 6pm. (Tuesday 9:30am to 6pm.) Purchases: We are always keen to purchase books, whether single works or in quantity, and will be pleased to make arrangements to view them. Auction commissions: We attend a number of auction sales and will be happy to exe- cute commissions on your behalf. Blackwell’s Rare Books online blackwell.co.uk/rarebooks Our website contains listings of our stock with full descriptions and photographs, along with links to PDF copies of previous catalogues, and full details for contacting us with enquiries about buying or selling rare books. Please mention Private Press catalogue when ordering. All books subject to prior sale. Cover illustration: Item 133 1. (Acorn Press.) SHAKESPEARE (William) The Sonnets. 1982, 328/350 COPIES printed on Zerkall mouldmade paper, wood-engraved head-piece by Hellmuth Weissenborn to each of the Sonnets and on the title-page printed in various shades of brown, purple and orange, with the title printed in black and orange, pp. [176], 4to, original quarter dark brown cloth with mustard-yellow sides reproducing the wood-engraved head-pieces overall in brown and orange, backstrip with printed label, untrimmed, cloth and board slipcase, fine £245 Printed at the Rocket Press. 2. (Acorn Press.) WEISSENBORN (Hellmuth) Fantasy. Hand-Coloured Linocuts. 1978, ONE OF 100 NUMBERED COPIES signed by the artist (this copy neither numbered nor signed) printed on Wookey Hole handmade paper, with 21 linocuts by Weissenborn printed in blue or brown and finished with handcolouring, each with a printed title, the linocuts and text pages all printed on rectos only, pp. [44], large 4to, original mid green boards with faded backstrip, printed front cover label, untrimmed, matching board slipcase with printed label, near fine £50 3. (Acorn Press.) WEISSENBORN (Helmuth, Illustrator) An Anthology of Love. With Linocuts by Helmuth Weissenborn. 1985, 45/100 COPIES, 15 linocuts printed in brown or blue,printed on buff Zerkall moulmade paper, pp. [44], square 8vo, original oatmeal cloth with printed label inset to upper board, edges untrimmed, fine (Carter 195) £80 Designed and printed by Sebastian Carter at the Rampant Lions Press. A beautifully produced example of Catalan modernism 4. (Albéniz.) MARQUINA (Eduardo) Elegías. Punta Secas por Laura Albéniz. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, 1935, FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION, 1/5 COPIES (from an edition of 176 copies) on Japon nacarado paper with an original drawing signed by the artist, the original metal plates of two of the illustrations, and a separate suite of prints on China paper, titles and decorations printed in orange, illustration at head of each poem, the occasional foxspot, pp. 233, [2], 4to, original wrappers, small tear at foot, unbound as issued, edges untrimmed, the suite of prints and plates enclosed in their own folders, prospectus laid in, all housed in quarter vellum folder with blue sides, lettered in gilt to backstrip, faint handling marks, original slipcase a little rubbed and lightly dustsoiled, very good £2,000 1 BLACKWELL’S RARE BOOKS Originally published in 1905, this lavish new edition in the publisher’s ‘La Cometa’ series enhances the original text with drypoint etchings by fellow Catalan Laura Albéniz; her illustrations are also provided as a separate suite of prints with two of her original plates and an original drawing. 5. (Arion Press.) DUNCAN (Robert) Structure of Rime. San Francisco, 2008, 175/275 COPIES, mouldmade paper, pp. [iv], 96, 4to, original brick-red cloth with inlaid prints by Frank Lobdell, grey paper backstrip label with black lettering, top edge trimmed, paper and cloth slipcase, excellent [with:] An Etching with aquatint by Frank Lobdell, ‘Untitled, 5,15,87’, 26/35 copies, loose with the book £600 With a copy of the Prospectus. 6. (Arion Press.) FERLINGHETTI (Lawrence) A Coney Island of the Mind. San Francisco, 2005, 218/300 COPIES, signed by the author and the artist, frontispiece portrait by R. B. Kitaj, pp. [x], 29, 4to, original quarter grey cloth with illustration by Kitaj, paper label lettered in black, paper and cloth slipcase, near fine £300 With prospectus for the same laid in at front. 7. (Arion Press.) ROTH (Henry) Call it Sleep. San Francisco, 1995, 246/300 COPIES, signed by the author, 48 period photographs alongside text, pp. [vii], 429, 8vo, original quarter green morocco with green cloth sides, window design stamped in green to both boards, backstrip lettered in green, top edge trimmed, slipcase, fine £300 The Kelmscott Chaucer in sheets 8. (Basilisk Press.) CHAUCER (Geoffrey) Works, now newly Imprinted. [A Facsimile of the Kelmscott Press Edition of 1896, Edited by F.S. Ellis]. 1974, ONE OF 515 COPIES printed in black and red, pp. [iv], 554, [1], folio, original unbound sheets, untrimmed, additional trial page with binding instructions pinned at head, stored in wax paper, near fine £1,500 The sheets of the Kelmscott Chaucer, in the Basilisk Press’s lauded facsimile version - one of a small number of copies presented in this form to those involved in the production of this project. Carefully stored and ripe for binding. 9. (Binding.) BROCKMAN (Stuart, binder) ISHERWOOD (Christopher) A Single Man. The Land Press, 1980 LIMITED EDITION OF 400, this one out of series, signed by Christopher Isherwood, pp. [iv], 133, [4], 8vo, uncut, bound by Stuart Brockman (with his ticket) in full fabric over cushioned boards with silver plated and crystal bosses, spine in compartments, stained vellum palladium tooled lettering label, red Japanese tissue endleaves, housed in black full cloth box with velvet lining, excellent £1,500 2 PRIVATE PRESS & Illustrated books A singular binding. The copy is perhaps out of series in that Isherwood’s signature seems to have been executed with a faulty pen, or perhaps the (red) ink disagrees with the paper. Items 9 & 10 10. (Binding.) BROCKMAN (Stuart, binder) STRONG (L.A.G.) The Hansom Cab and the Pigeons. being random reflections upon the silver jubilee of King George V. Golden Cockerel Press, 1935, FIRST EDITION, ONE OF 1,000 COPIES (of an edition of 1,212 copies) printed on machine-made paper, wood-engraved frontispiece and 16 other engravings in the text by Eric Ravilious, pp. [ii], 46, [4], 8vo bound by Stuart Brockman (with his ticket) in full black goatskin over cushioned boards with gold tooling and lettering, red, purple and yellow goatskin onlays, black and red calf onlays, housed in black full cloth box lined in velvet £1,650 The design of the binding (that on the lower cover mirroring the front) is based on the hansom cab which features in the frontispiece. 11. (Birmingham School of Printing.) POPE (Alexander) The Rape of the Lock. An Heroi-Comical Poem, 1712. Birmingham: [Printed for private distribution by Leonard Jay,] [1944,] ONE OF 65 COPIES, title-page, initial letters and decorations in green with colophon printed in copper, printed on Malling Mills Toned paper, 6 full-page illustrations, pp. 44, imperial 8vo, original brick-red cloth, backstrip and upper board lettered in gilt with very slight lean to spine, a little dustiness with some very faint spotting to endpapers, good £80 3 BLACKWELL’S RARE BOOKS 12. (Birmingham School of Printing.) RUDLAND (E.M.) Selection from Ballads of Old Birmingham. (Printed for Private Distribution), Leonard Jay, Birmingham. 1945, FIRST SELECTED EDITION, ONE OF 85 COPIES, printed in black and red, the typographic border to the title-page and the armorial-bearings by A. Michael Fletcher also printed in red, pp.72, small folio, original qtr. tan cloth, backstrip gilt-lettered, grey-green boards, foxed endpapers and edges, good £75 With an inspiring inscription by Leonard Jay, ‘Presented to George Kenneth Boyden on the completion of his course in the Birmingham School of Printing, in the hope that he will honour, serve, & love his craft, and will continue to foster the habit of doing things well for the joy of the work & the pleasure of achievement. Leonard Jay 18.vii.45’, unfortunately written out upside down on the rear free endpaper. One of the few books designed by Leonard Jay rather than by students under his direction. 85 copies were printed and not 65 as stated in Wallis. 13. Blake (Peter) Alphabets. Text by Mel Gooding. D3 Editions, Nottingham. 2010, FIRST EDITION, 68/100 COPIES (of an edition of 600 copies) signed by Peter Blake, with the signed numbered print by Blake, in its red card folder, loosely inserted in the book, over 200 pages of colour reproductions of photographs of the artist’s work and including 2 folding leaves, pp. [ii], 224, 4to, original crimson cloth, backstrip longitudinally gilt lettered, printed front cover label within a gilt frame, cotton-marker, matching board slipcase and label, fine £500 Peter Blake’s love of letters and collecting enthusiasm come together in this work to illustrate the 18 unique alphabets he has produced, some of them previously unpublished.