H. P. Kraus The Ninetieth Catalogue: English Books -Manuscripts - Incunabula - Voyages - Americana - Geography - Bindings - Natural History by H. P. Kraus - 1959

H. P. Kraus, New York, 1959. Hardcover. Very Good. 4to, hardcover. No dj. Vg condition. Covers lightly soiled, contents clean, no marking or writing. Binding square and tight. 201 pp., tipped-in illustrations. Catalogue features a complete double-elephant folio copy of Audubon's "Birds of America" ($45,000). Ah, those were the days!

New Castle: Oak Knoll Books, 1988. stiff paper wrappers printed in two colors. Bookbinding. 8vo. stiff paper wrappers printed in two colors. (16) pages. Reprint of the 1852 magazine article which had appeared in Godey's Magazine with a foreword by Robert Fleck. One of the best references to what a trade binding house looked like in the middle of the 19th century. Enhanced by 17 illustrations by Hinckley showing various scenes in the bindery. The fifth Christmas book issued by Oak Knoll.

Lunenburg, Vermont: The Stinehour Press. Fine with no dust jacket. 1963. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Letters written from France and England in 1960, these describe John R. Nash's encounters and visits with engravers, book printers, and job printers in their own establishments. They form an engaging essay with sufficient detail to interest those who appreciate private press work and the personalities behind that. Nash was the former graphic arts Professor and long-time mentor of Rocky Stinehour. Has Nash's 6 ink line drawings of the people and equipment in their shops. This book is a 1963 Christmas keepsake for friends of the Press. Bound in stiff, orange, laid paper wraps. Printed fully justified in an unspecified Monotype face. This is a clean, crisp Fine copy. ; Ink line drawings; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 27 [1] pages .

London, Chatto & Windus, 1882. Hard Cover. xvi, 486, 32 pages, facsimile woodcuts throughout; 19.5 cm. "Although these Chap-books are very curious, and on many accounts interesting, no attempt has yet been made to place them before the public in a collected form, accompanied by the characteristic engravings, without which they would lose much of their value. They are the relics of a happily past age" carried in the packs of the pedlars, or Chapmen, to every village, and to every home. ...while they were in their prime, they mark an epoch in the literary history of our nation" and they help us to gauge the intellectual capacity of the lower and lower middle classes of the last century. "As before said, their great variety adapted them for every purchaser, and they may be roughly classed under the following heads:"Religious, Diabolical, Supernatural, Superstitious, Romantic, Humorous, Legendary, Historical, Biographical, and Criminal" I have not included Calendars, and I have purposely avoided… Read More

New York: R.R. Bowker Co, 1977. cloth, dust jacket. 8vo. cloth, dust jacket. xix, 288 pages. First edition. Fine in fine jacket. An excellent book with 12 articles by well-known bookman on various aspects of book collecting.

Windsor, ON, Canada: Biblioasis, 2022. paperback. 8vo. paperback. 349 pages. Featured in The New York Times article "Love the Smell of Old Books? This Bookseller Would Like You to Leave." "In his grouchy, funny memoir, 'A Factotum in the Book Trade,' Marius Kociejowski writes about what a good bookstore should feel like, famous customers hes served and more....'A Factotum in the Book Trade' is memorable because a) its well-written, and b) its close in touch with the books." - Dwight Garner, The New York Times Praise for Marius Kociejowski "Kociejowski draws on all aspects of his life in these engaging, idiosyncratic personal essays . . . [that] proffer the reader equal measures of autobiography, insight and quirky charm." - Michael Dirda, Washington Post "[Kociejowski is] one of the most evocative travel writers to emerge in the last decade . . . He may well be peerless." - Maclean's "Here the charm is deep, the splendour unlaboured; the colours of history, reckoned afresh, saturate… Read More

Cleveland and New York: World Publishing Co, 1951. cloth. 8vo. cloth. (ii), xviii, 418, (2) pages. First edition. Exlibrary copy. Lacking the dust jacket. Illustrated. Essays by Wroth, Warde, Dwiggins, Rogers, Ransom, Pollard, Grabhorn, Morison, Gill, Goudy and others.

New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2015. paperback. Bookbinding. 6 x 9 inches. paperback. 144 pages. Tricks of the Trade considers what is not taught - but probably should be - about binding and rebinding books. Written for competent binders and knowledgeable collectors, it brings quirky but effective binding techniques out of obscurity and into the professional repertory. Here are tricks binders can use to polish and refine their bindings, as well as suggestions for repairs that may add value to collections. Using photographs of her own bindings as illustrations, Jamie Kamph discusses decorative techniques, sources for design ideas, engineering concerns, and ways to both correct and avoid common mistakes. In addition to providing practical solutions, Kamph's advice delves into the grey area between technical discipline and artistic invention. Detailed instructions and drawings describe binding practices such as corner shaping, headbanding, rebacking, and recasing books. An extensive discussion… Read More

Berkeley: CODEX Foundation, 2021. wrappers. 5.5 x 7.75 inches. wrappers. 24 pages. Number seventeen of the CODE(X)+1 Monograph Series. Number seventeen of the CODE(X)+1 Monograph Series. Following Marshall McLuhan's famous quote the medium is the message this article presents the Klingspor Museum in Offenbach/Main as a unique institution representing the genre of the artists book. The Klingspor Museum is more than simply a collection of book related arts because of its foundational idea of type- and bookmaking that put tremendous emphasis on merging these two domains. The leading personality of that history is Karl Klingspor. The practice of his type foundry revolutionised the ways that trade markets, literature, and culture in general traditionally separated until then came together in the foundry. From this beginning in the foundry, Klingspor developed a collecting ethos that brought together the arts of type, writing and the book, thereby promoting the process of creation itself. Because of… Read More

1323 Walnut Street, Philadelphia: The Booklovers Library, 1901. First Edition. Wraps. Very Good. First Edition. 143, [1] pages. 8vo. Publisher's dark grey flexible wrappers with embossed emblem of Booklovers Reading Club and other titles. Minor wear to the extremities, a very nice example. Wraps. Course V of the "Booklovers Reading Club Hand-Book" "Six New England Classics." Page 9 notes "Books selected for this reading course by Dr. Edward Everett Hale." Apparently part of an ongoing effort by a very large scale subscription library in Philadelphia to engage readers. The rear includes a variety of other recommended works as well as a list of 21 general reading club suggestions. The Six classics are "Representative Men" by Emerson, "The House of the Seven Gables" by Hawthorne, "Montcalm and Wolfe" by Parkman, "Select Orations" by Webster, "The Bigelow Papers" by Lowell, and "Evangeline" by Longfellow. "The Tabard Inn Library of Philadelphia was one segment of a series of entrepreneurial businesses… Read More

1323 Walnut Street, Philadelphia: The Booklovers Library, 1901. First Edition. Wraps. Near Fine. First Edition. 125, [1] pages. 8vo. Publisher's light blue flexible wrappers with embossed emblem of Booklovers Reading Club and other titles. Minor wear to the extremities, a very nice example. Wraps. Course III of the "Booklovers Reading Club Hand-Book" "Ramblings among art centres." Internally (p 9) notes "Books selected for this reading course by Mr. F. Hopkinison Smith and Dr. John C. Van Dyke." The work is an odd arrangement, with various additional articles, summaries of the books to be read, and guidance to readers. Several articles by Sturgis, Cox, La Farge and others about the books under consideration. Apparently part of an ongoing effort by a very large scale subscription library in Philadelphia to engage readers. The rear includes a variety of other recommended works as well as a list of 21 general reading club suggestions. "The Tabard Inn Library of Philadelphia was one segment of a series… Read More