Santa Claus and the Shadow by HUDSPETH, B.M - 1892

San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1929. First Edition. One of an edition of 325 copies signed by the author. Printed by the Brothers Johnson at the Windsor Press, handset type on handmade Arches paper. Finely reasoned essay on poetry venturing from the songs of the Navajo to a lengthy discussion on Chinese poems and Wordsworth. 'It is not necessary that culture bring about the death of poetry, as it did in the Rome of Virgil. The cynics are wrong who see in our future no place for an art which belongs, they say, to the childhood of the race. The head of a man and the heart of a child working together as in the Chinese have made possible with one race and may make possible with any race, even in the thick of the most intricate culture, the persistence of the purest poetry.' Witter Bynner. Limited edition of 325 signed copies. Small slim quarto, original red cloth, small neat previous owner's inscription on inner cover, back board partially sunned, else fine.

Paris: Èdition l'Officiel de la Couleur, 1952. First Edition. A bright and colourful album featuring the traditional costumes of China, Mongolia, Manchuria, Japan, Korea, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Published in 1952, the content of the album reflects contemporary French interest in the culture and costumes of the present-day Vietnam, with separate, detailed chapters on the colony of Cochinchina and the provinces of Tonkin and Annam. Limited first editon of 1000 numbered copies, signed by the artist. Large quarto, loose in original decorated wrappers, 260 mm x 360 mm, 52 pages, 22 full-page coloured plates, coloured illustrations throughout text; a fine copy.

London: Vincent Brooks Day & Son, 1870. Beautiful coloured-lithographic panorama, as issued in its original decorated cloth boards: the series of 24 connected panels combine to illustrate Psalm 104, forming a continuous panorama over three-and-a-half metres in total. This copy is unusually fine; where seen, these fragile works more commonly display significant wear. The work has been featured in some detail online, testament to its visual impact (see for example a handsome commentary including a full reproduction at the Bridwell Library of Southern Methodist University in the USA). The panorama begins with an image of the psalmist, King David, covering his head in reverence to the Lord; at the end, he appears again, wearing a crown and playing his harp within his palace in Jerusalem. The remainder of the panorama consists of various landscapes teeming with life, as described in the psalm, and includes a scene showing the "leviathan" or whale. The panorama was designed by Susan Maria Ffarington… Read More

London: St Martin's Publishing Co, 1912. First Edition. An early book on the engineering and construction of automotive parts, with a special emphasis on metallurgy. 'An account of modern metallurgical science applied to automobile engineering, including detailed descriptions of the principal processes involved in the production and testing of iron and steel, together with a collection of micrographs and charts graphically illustrating the influence of heat treatment on metals.' The book is well illustrated with photo plates of factory equipment and production, smelting and. Quarto, bound in original red cloth, photographically illustrated throughout, previous owner's inscription, near fine.

Japan: Yokohama Seishi Bunsha, 1895. First Edition. Rare English-language guide to Japanese domestic wares, with 76 fully-illustrated items. Its publication came at a time when Japan was experiencing a dramatic shift from the conservative, isolationist policies of the sh gun-dominated Edo period to the rapid and widespread drive to modernise and engage with the rest of the world that characterizes the Meiji Restoration. This booklet focuses on a traditional domestic interior and features a beautiful double-page plate showing the layout and arrangement of a Japanese period home, showing respective zones for food preparation, cooking and the entertainment of guests. Items specifically illustrated and described include lacquer wares, a charcoal-burning stove, lanterns, wooden buckets and items used in the tea ceremony. A beautiful copy of a scarce work published for the English market. Bibliography: Not in Cordier or Nipponalia.; Rogala Jozef 'A Collector's Guide to Books on Japan in English', 783.… Read More

San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1929. First Edition. One of an edition of 325 copies signed by the author. Printed by the Brothers Johnson at the Windsor Press, handset type on handmade Arches paper. Finely reasoned essay on poetry venturing from the songs of the Navajo to a lengthy discussion on Chinese poems and Wordsworth. 'It is not necessary that culture bring about the death of poetry, as it did in the Rome of Virgil. The cynics are wrong who see in our future no place for an art which belongs, they say, to the childhood of the race. The head of a man and the heart of a child working together as in the Chinese have made possible with one race and may make possible with any race, even in the thick of the most intricate culture, the persistence of the purest poetry.' Witter Bynner. Limited edition of 325 signed copies. Small slim quarto, original red cloth, small neat previous owner's inscription on inner cover, back board partially sunned, else fine.

Paris: Èdition l'Officiel de la Couleur, 1952. First Edition. A bright and colourful album featuring the traditional costumes of China, Mongolia, Manchuria, Japan, Korea, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Published in 1952, the content of the album reflects contemporary French interest in the culture and costumes of the present-day Vietnam, with separate, detailed chapters on the colony of Cochinchina and the provinces of Tonkin and Annam. Limited first editon of 1000 numbered copies, signed by the artist. Large quarto, loose in original decorated wrappers, 260 mm x 360 mm, 52 pages, 22 full-page coloured plates, coloured illustrations throughout text; a fine copy.

London: Vincent Brooks Day & Son, 1870. Beautiful coloured-lithographic panorama, as issued in its original decorated cloth boards: the series of 24 connected panels combine to illustrate Psalm 104, forming a continuous panorama over three-and-a-half metres in total. This copy is unusually fine; where seen, these fragile works more commonly display significant wear. The work has been featured in some detail online, testament to its visual impact (see for example a handsome commentary including a full reproduction at the Bridwell Library of Southern Methodist University in the USA). The panorama begins with an image of the psalmist, King David, covering his head in reverence to the Lord; at the end, he appears again, wearing a crown and playing his harp within his palace in Jerusalem. The remainder of the panorama consists of various landscapes teeming with life, as described in the psalm, and includes a scene showing the "leviathan" or whale. The panorama was designed by Susan Maria Ffarington… Read More

London: St Martin's Publishing Co, 1912. First Edition. An early book on the engineering and construction of automotive parts, with a special emphasis on metallurgy. 'An account of modern metallurgical science applied to automobile engineering, including detailed descriptions of the principal processes involved in the production and testing of iron and steel, together with a collection of micrographs and charts graphically illustrating the influence of heat treatment on metals.' The book is well illustrated with photo plates of factory equipment and production, smelting and. Quarto, bound in original red cloth, photographically illustrated throughout, previous owner's inscription, near fine.

Japan: Yokohama Seishi Bunsha, 1895. First Edition. Rare English-language guide to Japanese domestic wares, with 76 fully-illustrated items. Its publication came at a time when Japan was experiencing a dramatic shift from the conservative, isolationist policies of the sh gun-dominated Edo period to the rapid and widespread drive to modernise and engage with the rest of the world that characterizes the Meiji Restoration. This booklet focuses on a traditional domestic interior and features a beautiful double-page plate showing the layout and arrangement of a Japanese period home, showing respective zones for food preparation, cooking and the entertainment of guests. Items specifically illustrated and described include lacquer wares, a charcoal-burning stove, lanterns, wooden buckets and items used in the tea ceremony. A beautiful copy of a scarce work published for the English market. Bibliography: Not in Cordier or Nipponalia.; Rogala Jozef 'A Collector's Guide to Books on Japan in English', 783.… Read More