Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2015 Issue

Children's Books from a Private Library from John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller

Children's literature and illustrations.

Children's literature and illustrations.

John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller has issued the fifth part of a catalogue from a private collection: Catalogue 60: Books from a San Francisco Private Library Part 5. Children's Literature and Illustration. This collector built a library covering many subjects, with the common thread being collecting at a high level. These are all important books in the field, many of which come with signatures or inscriptions. Here are a few of them.

 

Shiver me timbers! Here is the book that turned pirates from being the ISIS of the seas to popular storybook characters. Item 32 is a first edition, first issue of Robert Louis Stevenson's tale Treasure Island. It made treasure hunting popular too, which is much nicer than dealing with pirates. Windle describes this as a “fine copy,” worthy of a treasure hunt. Published in 1883. $9,500.

 

Next is an anthology of cartoons about a family like yours or mine: Addams and Evil. Okay, maybe the Addams family was just a little more special than ours. This is the second anthology of Charles Addams' cartoons about his (we hope) fictional family. His cartoons became a hit in the New Yorker, famous for its cartoons, around 1940. His ghoulish looking family would later become the stars of a hit television series and several movies. Addams has inscribed this 1947 first edition of his book to Daise Terry. She was an office manager at the New Yorker who was an early advocate for Addams' work. He has drawn an original watercolor in the book of Lurch, the family's tall, zombie-looking butler. Item 1. $3,750.

 

Here is another extra illustrated book by its author. Item 30 is a later edition of Where The Wild Things Are, the most famous book by author/illustrator Maurice Sendak. Sendak has added an extra drawing of a wild thing as well as signing and inscribing the book. The recipient was Charles Mikolaycak, an illustrator of over 60 children's books who received several awards for his work. $5,000.

 

Item 14 is Toad of Toad Hall, A. A. Milne's dramatization of a part of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. It was published in 1929 (21 years after Willows) in a limited edition of 200 copies. This is number 7. It was printed on handmade paper and is signed by both Grahame and Milne. It is accompanied by a letter to Helen Brown, of Mole End, Heswall, Cheshire, dated 1923. Milne is amused at Miss Brown's naming of her home “Mole End,” as that was the name Grahame gave the home of one of his characters, the mole, quite naturally. Milne writes, “If ever we have a house in the country we are going to call it Toad Hall.” He goes on to write, “You may like to know that I am making a play of it [The Wind in the Willows]. Mole End doesn't come into it. (Do you mind very much?) It was that or Badger's House, and I had to have Badger's. I am sorry about Mole End, because my wife and I love the chapter more than any...” $6,950.

 

Item 34 is Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gullivar... Of course, it was not written by Lemuel Gullivar. Gullivar was created from the imagination of the actual author, Jonathan Swift. The book today is more familiarly known simply as Gulliver's Travels. Swift's world of strange people, giants and tiny creatures and more, has been copied by several very popular writers of the last century. It is interesting that Swift was not out to create a children's adventure like those that came later. He was actually writing political satire, though most of his points are now obscure or forgotten. The story, however, endured. This is a copy of the 1726 true first edition with all first issue points, including all of the maps and travel plans, and (as usual) the second state portrait of Gulliver. The copy contains the armorial bookplate of Thomas Macro, University Librarian at Cambridge. He died in 1743 or 4 and may well have been the original buyer. $65,000.

 

Item 6 is a first edition of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, published in 1884. The first was published in London, a few weeks ahead of the American edition. Twain did this to be certain he had a valid local copyright so that his books could not be pirated in England. This copy is bound with staples, unlike most which used string. There is no known priority. The experiment with staples didn't work out so well, but this one is in “desirable condition.” $2,500.

 

John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller may be reached at 415-986-5826 or john@johnwindle.com. Their website is www.johnwindle.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Books & Collectors’ Sale
    April 30th & May 1st
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Taylor (Geo.) & Skinner (A.) Maps of the Roads of Ireland, Surveyed 1777. Lond. & Dublin 1778. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Messingham (Thos.) Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum seu Vitae et Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, Paris 1624. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus). The Haw Lantern, L. (Faber & Faber) 1987, First Edn., Signed and dated. €225 to €350.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Valencey (Lt. Col. Chas.) Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, Vols. I-IV, 4 vols. Dublin 1786. €400 to €600.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Powerscourt (Viscount). A Description and History of Powerscourt, Lond. 1903. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Moryson (Fynes). An Itinerary ... Containing His Ten Yeeres Travel Through the Twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohermerland, Sweitzerland…, Lond. (John Beale) 1617. €700 to €1,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: After Buffon, Birds of Europe, c. 1820. Approx. 120 fine hd. cold. plts., mor. backed boards. €125 to €250.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Dunlevy (Andrew). An Teagasg Criosduidhe De Reir Ceasda agus Freagartha... The Catechism or Christian Doctrine by Way of Question and Answer, Paris (James Guerin) 1742. €400 to €700.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: The Georgian Society Records of Eighteen-Century Domestic Architecture in Dublin, 5 vols. Complete, Dublin 1909-1913. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Scale (Bernard). An Hibernian Atlas or General Description of the Kingdom of Ireland, L. (Robert Sayer & John Bennet) 1776. €625 to €850.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: [Johnson (Rev. Samuel)]. Julian the Apostate Being a Short Account of his Life, together with a Comparison of Popery and Paganism,L. (Langley Curtis) 1682. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Nichlson (Wm.) Illustrator. An Almanac of Twelve Sports, Lond. 1898. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) trans. The Light of the Leaves, 2 vols., Mexico (Imprenta de los Tropicos/Bunholt) 1999. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Fleming (Ian). Moonraker, L. (Jonathan Cape) 1955. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) & Egan (Felim) artist. Squarings, Twelve Poems, D. (Hieroglyph Editions Ltd.) 1991. €1,750 to €2,250.
  • Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN'S EXTREMELY RARE FIRST APPEARANCE IN PRINT. "Scene af: Røverne i Vissenberg i Fyen." in Harpen, 1822.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST THREE FAIRY TALE PAMPHLETS, WITH ALL INDICES AND TITLE PAGES. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: THE FIRST FAIRY TALES WITH A SIGNED CARTE DE VISITE OF ANDERSEN AS FRONTIS. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: KARL LAGERFELD. Original pastel and ink drawing in gold, red and black for Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes (1992), "La cassette de l'Empereur."
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY OF THE SIXTH PAMPHLET FOR PETER KOCH. Eventyr, Fortalte For Børn, Second Series, Third Pamphlet. 1841. Publisher's wrappers, complete with all pre- and post-matter.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN RARE AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED IN ENGLISH from "The Ugly Duckling," c.1860s.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HEINRICH LEFLER, ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR FOR ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN, "Die Schneekönigin," 1910.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST EDITION OF ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES IN ENGLISH. Wonderful Stories for Children. London, 1846.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN ON MEETING CHARLES DICKENS. Autograph Letter Signed ("H.C. Andersen") in English to William Jerdan, July 20, 1847.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR EDGAR COLLIN. Nye Eventyr og Historier. Anden Raekke. 1861.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, DECORATED WITH FANTASTICAL CUT-OUTS, for the children of Jonna Stampe (née Drewsen), his godchildren.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR GEORG BRANDES. Dryaden. Et Eventyr fra Udstillingstiden i Paris 1867. 1868.
  • Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 962. Baird. United States Exploring Expedition. Philadelphia 1858.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 772. Edith Holland Norton. Brazilian Flowers. Coombe Croft 1893.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 49. Petrarca. Das Gluecksbuch, Augsburg 1536.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 1496. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 8. Augustinus. De moribus ecclesie. Cologne 1480.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 17. Heures a lusaige de Noyon. Paris 1504.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 13. Schedel. Buch der Chronicken. Nürnberg 1493.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 957. Donovan. Insects of China. London 1798.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 123. A holy martyr. Tuscany, Florence, mid-14th century.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 438. Dante. La Divine Comédie. Paris 1963.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 602. Firdausi. Histoire de Minoutchehr. Paris 1919
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 994. Westwood. Oriental Entomology. London 1848.
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR

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