Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2014 Issue

Book Arts from RoYoung Bookseller

Book Arts.

Book Arts.

This month we received our first catalogue from Royoung Bookseller, of Ardsley, New York (just north of the big city). First, an aside about the name, which can be Royoung or RoYoung, but nothing we can do in textual type does the name justice. The logo has the “Ro” on a top line and the “oung” on a slightly lower line, with a larger “Y” in between. The result is your eye reads the name “Roy Young” without even realizing only one “Y” is present. So, think of the name as “Roy Young,” but only use one “y” when looking for the website.

 

This offering is Catalogue 234, or Book Arts. The full title, which is effectively an excellent description of what you will find, is Book Arts – art deco & art nouveau, bindings, books-on-books, color plates, early printing, fine & private press, livre d'artiste, map & atlas, photography, posters & prints, works-on-paper. With that description provided, we can quickly open up the pages for a few samples of the material inside.

 

There is no better place to start a discussion of book arts than with something from the Kelmscott Press. Item 136 is such a thing. It is Sir Thomas More's Utopia, a look at a world we would now describe as.... “utopia.” The book created a descriptive term. Originally published early in the 16th century, this edition rolled off William Morris' Kelmscott Press in 1893. It is printed in red and black and contains woodcut initials and borders throughout the text. Kelmscott would close down a few years later after a very brief run when Morris died, but its reputation lives on as the finest of the fine presses. Priced at $6,000.

 

Salvadore Dali is overwhelmingly known for his paintings, but his art was far broader than one genre, particularly in his younger years. He wrote film scripts, books, poems, and created sculptures along with his paintings, seeing painting as just one aspect of his inner self. However, surrealism flows along the different genres. Item 64 is a work of the poetic Dali, L'Amour Et La Memoire (Love and Memory). It was published in 1931. Dali must have had memory on his mind that year, which would be an important one for his paintings. It was also the year he painted his most famous work, Persistence of Memory, the one with the melted watches. $995.

 

Item 186 is a fun book for German children published circa 1890. It was the creation of Lothar Meggendorfer, whose specialty was movable or pop-up books. This one is titled Zum Zeitvertreib fur brave Knaben & Madchen. Ein Ziehbilderbuch (For brave boys and girls to pass the time. A picture book). It contains 8 colored plates with levers that allow parts of the picture to be moved. A series of interconnected cardboard levers sandwiched inside the page operated the movements. Finding older children's books in good condition is difficult, they having been used by children. Remarkably, all of the tabs with moving parts on this copy are working. Meggendorfer, whose movable books date from the 1880's and 1890's, was the best in the field. $2,000.

 

Item 4A comes from the first incarnation of the Gregynog Press: The Fables of Esope. Translated Out of the Frensshe in To Englysshe By: William Caxton. The excesses of the letter “s” and unexpected uses of “y” are a sign that the original dates back to the Middle Ages, but this fine press edition was published in 1931. This is copy number 56 of 250, and it features 37 wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker. The first Gregynog Press was formed around 1922 by the Davies sisters, surprising operators for a fine press. It was not that they had any particular connection to printing, but that the estate they owned once had a press and they wished to renew the tradition. The success of their venture was surprising considering the obstacles. $3,500.

 

This next item is definitely a piece of ephemera, but it contains the artwork of the noted book illustrator Rockwell Kent, albeit in miniature. It is a framed set of 100 Christmas Seals for the year 1939. It features a female head with a halo on each stamp. Christmas Seals were introduced early in the 20th century, primarily used as a fund raiser to fight tuberculosis. That was their purpose in 1939. With TB mostly having been conquered, today they are used to fight other lung diseases. Item 147. $250.

 

RoYoung Bookseller may be reached at 914-693-6116 or royoungbooksell@optonline.net. Their website is found at www.royoung.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
    Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana
    November 14
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.
  • Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE
    Le Neptune Oriental
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    CASSAS
    Eaux fortes de la Sicile et quelques vues d’Espagne
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    CASSINI DE THURY
    Carte générale et particulière de la France.
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    JOUY; GARNERAY
    Vues des côtes de France dans l'Océan et dans la Méditerranée
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    LA PÉROUSE
    Voyage autour du monde
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE
    Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    LICENT
    Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    FRENCH SCHOOL FROM THE 19th CENTURY
    Panorama d’Athènes
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    PEETERS
    Description des principales villes, havres et isles du golfe de Venise
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    PÉRON; FREYCINET
    Voyage de découverte aux terres australes
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    STACKELBERG
    La Grèce : vues pittoresques et topographiques.
    Gros & Delettrez, 7 November:
    VALENTINER
    Atlas des Sonnensystems.
  • Forum Auctions
    Online Sale:
    The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper
    Ending 7th November, 2024
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions
    Online Sale:
    The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper
    Ending 7th November, 2024
    Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.
  • Doyle
    Stage & Screen
    November 14 & 15
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A studio-sanctioned Darth Vader Touring Costume from The Empire Strikes Back. $50,000 to $100,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: An original Al Hirschfeld's illustration of the cast of On Golden Pond. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: The largest trove of personal Grace Kelly letters to come to market. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: An Important Archive of Musical Manuscripts of Truman Capote and Harold Arlen's House of Flowers. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: The archive of an original Merrily We Roll Along Broadway cast member. $5,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: Jerry Herman's Yamaha Model C7 Ebonized Grand Piano. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A large group of Jerry Herman musical posters. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: Group of awards presented to Jerry Herman. $300 to $400.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: Six pages of original art for "The MAD Game of Basebrawl," a complete story published in MAD #167, pages 31-36, June 1974. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A MAD book made for Al Jaffee, containing original art and writings from many MAD contributors. 2011. $1,200 to $1,800.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A Jaffee-themed MAD Fold-In - "What honor should the creator of the MAD Fold-Ins be given?" $800 to $1,200.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: MAD Fold-In - "What developing news story has many Americans totally transfixed?" $800 to $1,200.

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