Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - January - 2009 Issue
Capri and Other Places from Elysium Books
A photographic portrait of Norman Douglas by Carl Van Vechten.
Item 70 is a photographic portrait of Norman Douglas, taken in 1935. The photograph bears the embossed stamp of the photographer, Carl Van Vechten. Van Vechten was himself an author, writing several books with themes concerning African American life during the first few decades of the 20th century. In the 1930s, he turned to photography, and took pictures of many of the great writers and other artists of the period. $750.
Item 8 is a very early gay novel by the cross-dressing Duke of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg, August Emil Leopold. For those unfamiliar with this duchy, suffice to say it was not a large one. His fondness for dressing in women's clothes was unusual, but this was his duchy, so he could do as he pleased. August Emil was the grandfather-in-law of the very staid British Queen Victoria, which must have made her proud. His novel is entitled Ein Jahr in Arkadien, published in 1805, and tells of two shepherds who fall in love. Is this a precursor of Brokeback Mountain? $1,800.
Item 112 is a photograph of actress and singer Lotte Lenya, taken by her friend Louise Hartung. Lenya is most noted for her roles in The Threepenny Opera. Her husband, Kurt Weill, composed the music for the play. However, this picture was taken from her role in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany. Lenya has inscribed on the back, "This is the cruelest picture ever made of me." Look out for Miss Lotte Lenya! $450.
You can contact Elysium Books at 802-763-7147 or elysium@sover.net. Their website is www.elysiumpress.com.
Rare Book Monthly
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ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000. -
Sotheby’s
Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections
Open for Bidding 2-17 AprilSotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.