Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - September - 2016 Issue

Miniatures, Fine Press, and Books About Books from Oak Knoll Books

Miniatures, Fine Press, and Books About Books.

Oak Knoll Books has released their Catalogue 311. Miniature Books, Fine Press, and an Assortment of Books About Books. Oak Knoll specializes in the trade of books that represent more than just their textual content. That can include books that are works of art as much or more than text, or books that are about the book arts. This catalogue is divided into seven sections:

 

Featured Books

Artists' Books

Miniature Books

Private and Fine Press

Bookbinding, Papermaking, Printing, and Calligraphy

Books-About-Books

Bibliography & Reference

 

Here are a few selections from the over 300 items offered.

 

This catalogue contains a wide selection of miniature books and will be of great appeal to collectors of the genre. Here is a perfect representative sample – a bibliography of miniature books that is itself a miniature. It is a Bibliography of REM Miniatures, 1962-1978, Embellished with Original Illustrations, published in 1978. It was published by Robert E. Massmann of REM, and covers the early years of the Connecticut professor/miniature book publisher's career. It consists of two volumes, printed in a run of 250 numbered copies, bound dos-a-dos (bound together with the spine of one volume adjacent to the fore edge of the other). It contains hand-colored illustrations, which required a fine hand as it is only 2" x 1.75" in size. Item 105. Priced at $100.

 

Here is a miniature book that dates back to 1953, though it celebrates what is still the most recent British coronation. Item 28 is the Coronation of Her Majesty Elizabeth II, a very small book celebrating a large event in England. Queen Elizabeth II has reigned for over half a century, recently becoming Britain's longest ruling monarch, exceeding the 53 years of Queen Victoria. Considering that the 90-year-old queen's mother lived to 101, she may be reigning for many years to come. This miniature was published by the miniature book publisher Achille J. St. Onge of Worcester (the one in Massachusetts, not the one in Elizabeth's homeland). It was published in 2,000 copies, this one containing the miniature bookplate of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., collector, philanthropist, and business executive of the family that founded the Corning Glass Works. $165.

 

Next up is a book about a man whose invention, Oak Knoll points out, "has almost as much impact as Gutenberg's printing press." Nonetheless, you've probably never heard of him. Nicolas Louis Robert was a French artilleryman who obtained a job as a clerk in the Didot publishing house around 1790. As he rose to foreman, Robert became acutely aware of the problems in the process of making paper by hand, not the least of which was discontent by the workers who slowly produced the paper. Robert set about to devise a machine that could produce much greater volumes of paper, while reducing the need for human labor. After several years of design, he came up with a machine that, rather than slowly producing single sheets one at a time, could roll off long lengths of paper, all of consistent, high quality. It was an invention that would allow for the production of mass quantities of affordable books. In 1798, Robert obtained a French patent. The drawings for his patent application were unknown until 1976 when Leonard Schlosser purchased them at auction. Schlosser made copies of Robert's drawings, but most of these were lost. However, he gave one set to his friend Henry Morris of Bird & Bull Press, Morris noted as a papermaker himself. In 2000, Morris published this book: Nicolas Louis Robert and His Endless Wire Papermaking Machine. Printed in only 150 copies, it contains information about Robert, paper collector and historian Schlosser, and reproductions of Robert's five patent drawings. It was Robert's invention that was later used to design the better known papermaking machines of Henry Fourdrinier. Item 143. $400.

 

Item 225 is not a book at all, not even a work on paper. It is a medal, cast in bronze. However, it commemorates the birth of the inventor of the printing press, Johannes Gutenberg. Happy 500th birthday, Johannes. Gutenberg was born in 1400, or thereabouts, and the medal was struck in 1900. It was produced by R. Hoe & Co, which made far more money off of Gutenberg's invention than Johannes ever did. One side of the medal depicts a 15th century printing press, the other a large newspaper press. The latter is in deference to Hoe & Co., the major manufacturer of newspaper presses at the time. The business afforded Robert Hoe the funds necessary to build America's greatest book collection of the era. $250.

 

For competing, inventor-of-printing medals, there is one celebrating the 400th anniversary of the invention of printing with movable type in 1823, which puts printing back to 1423, 30 years before Gutenberg. The claimant to precedence was Lourens Jansz Koster, of Haarlem, the Netherlands. It was not Koster himself who made the claim. Indeed, the claim first appears in a book from 1568. That seems a bit late, since Gutenberg books from the 1450's are known. Nothing allegedly printed by Koster is known to exist. Few credit Koster today with the invention, except, perhaps, in Haarlem. Item 226. $275.

 

Item 288 is a catalogue of greeting cards offered for sale: Prang's Christmas & New Years Cards. It was published by L. Prang & Co. circa 1891. Louis Prang was a German immigrant who tried his hand at a number of printing ventures. He achieved success printing high quality engravings – reproductions of art works, Civil War maps, and such. However, he also came up with the idea to print holiday greeting cards. He launched his initial line of Christmas cards in 1875, a novel idea at the time. As a result, he is frequently referred to as "the father of the American Christmas card." This catalogue includes 205 of his designs for cards and miniature calendars, including product number and price per set. $2,500.

 

Oak Knoll Books may be reached at 800-996-2556 or orders@oakknoll.com. Their website is www.oakknoll.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000

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