Search Results: Authors starting with B from Ursus Books

1941. BAKKER, Piet, et al. Spoorwegserie Nos. 1-4. 8vo, bound in original illustrated wrappers, in a new cloth folding box. 1941. A complete set of these scarce wartime pamphlets published by the Dutch railways and much influenced in design by the work of Piet Zwart. The pamphlets are Seinwesen; Hoe Onstaat der Dienstregeling; De Nederlandsche Spoorwegen. Een Millionenbedrijf; and Wat Rijdt er Langs den Ijzerern Weg.

1767. BALCARCEL Y FORMENTO, Domingo et al. Reales Exequias de la serenissima senora Da. Ysabel Farnecio, Princesa de Parma, y Reyna de las Espanas: celebradas en la Santa Iglesia Cathedral en la imperial Corte Mexicana, los Dias 27 y 28 de Febrero de 1767. Title and 38 leaves. 8vo, modern 3/4 morocco. Mexico: En la imprenta de D. Phelipe de Zuniga, y Ontiveros, 1767. A fine copy of this extremely rare and beautiful example of colonial printing. Printed on excellent quality paper and with an unusual esthetic sensibility, with almost every page either illustrated or with elaborate typographic tailpieces.Without the folding plate, which was the case with the last copy to appear at auction in 1971. The copy listed in OCLC is bound with Laudatio funebris Elisabethae Farnesiae, and El Caracter de la Augustissima Isabel Farnessio... OCLC lists only the National Gallery and Indiana in the U.S.

1569. BARBARO, Daniel. La Pratica della Perspettiva di Monsignor Daniel Barbaro Eletto Patriarca D'Aquileia, Opera molto utile a Pittori, a Scultori, & ad Architetti. [2], 196, [12] pp., illustrated with over 200 woodcut diagrams and illustrations of which over 20 are full-page and one double-page. Folio, 300 x 204 mm., bound in contemporary Italian limp vellum, in a new red quarter morocco box. Venice: Camillo and Rutilio Borgominieri, 1569. First edition, second issue with both the title-page and colophon dated 1569. An unsophisticated copy of Daniel Barbaro's treatise on the rules of perspective specifically designed for Italian artists and architects, as previous quality treaties on the subject were in German, French and Latin. Barbaro (1514-1570) borrowed heavily from Serlio and from an unpublished treatise by Piero della Francesca for this work. However, the work stands on its own as an important advance in the understanding and practical use of perspective and brought these… Read More

2002. ASHBERY, John. A Wave. Suite of 8 lithographs by Will Barnet. Small folio. Publisher's linen folding box by Claudia Cohen. New York: 451 Books, 2002. One of an edition of 30 copies, with each of the lithographs signed by Barnet. This suite of signed prints was issued to accompany the edition of Ashbery's A Wave, published by 451 Books in an edition of 90 copies. A Wave is the first book from 451 Books, designed by Sasha Cutter and Charles Miller and printed at the Grenfell Press. This new book has to be one of the most felicitous examples of bookmaking in recent times. The poetry of John Ashbery is perfectly complemented by Barnet's elegantly restrained prints.

1957. BASKIN, Leonard. Voyages Six Poems. By Hart Crane. With wood engravings by Leonard Baskin. Oblong 4to., bound in blue paper wrappers, housed in a folding slipcase with white paper title label. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1957. One of an edition limited to 975 copies designed, illustrated and printed by Leonard Baskin at the Gehenna Press, with six original boxwood engravings and one cherry woodcut on hand-made papers. Baskin's mystical woodcuts are well suited for Crane's spiritual acuity. A fine copy with the folder in good condition, which is virtually never the case. The Artist and the Book, No. 13.

1983. BEARDEN, Romare. The Caribbean Poetry. By Derek Walcott. Introduction by Joseph Brodsky. 232 pp. Illustrated with eight coloured illustrations by Romare Bearden. 4to., bound in original publisher's linen silkscreened after a design by Bearden, in the publisher's cardboard slipcase (lightly sunned spine). New York: Limited Editions Club, 1983. One of the very few books illustrated by an African-American artist. From a total edition of 2000, this one containing the loose original, numbered lithograph. Bearden executed 8 lithographs, each in an edition of 250 copies, which were inserted in the books, and most of which have long since been removed. The colophon is signed by both the author and the artist. Derek Walcott, called "the first outstanding poet of the Caribbean" is a native of St. Lucia off the coast of Venezuela. He has written and directed numerous plays, produced in London and New York. He won an Obie for The Dream of the Monkey in 1971.… Read More

1855. BEDE, Cuthbert. Photographic Pleasures: Popularly Portrayed with Pen and Pencil. 52 pp. Illustrated with 23 etched plates. 8vo., 160 x 100 mm, bound in original illustrated cloth-backed boards. London: Day and Son, [1863]. Cuthbert Bede was the pen name of Edward Bradley. This is a reissue of the first humorous treatment of the new art and craft of photography to be published in England. To the readers of its day it offered an up-to-the-minute commentary on the fads and foibles, trials and tribulations of the photographic enthusiast. Piece missing from illustration on rear cover (a repeat of the front cover). Some internal staining, but still an exceptional copy of this fascinating book.

1909. BENHAM, W. Gurney and Frank ADAMS. Arthur and the Boilybird. An A.B.C. Story. Unpaginated. With colour illustrations throughout by Frank Adams. Oblong quarto publisher's colour illustrated boards with cloth spine. London: Blackie & Son [1909]. A delightful and scarce early twentieth century children's ABC book in unusually fine condition. OCLC lists only the Princeton copy.

1800. BENJAMIN, Asher. The Builder's Assistant: Fully Explaining, the Best Methods for Striking Regular and Quirked Mouldings. Engraved frontispiece and 37 plates, 2 of which are folding (offsetting with browning and spotting, pl. 25 with chips into platemark but not inked area, pl. 33 detached at fold, some damp staining at end). 4to, 196 x 141 mm., contemporary sheep, remains of morocco title piece on spine (quite worn), in a modern green chemise and slipcase. Greenfield: Thomas Dickman, 1800. An unsophisticated copy of the third edition of Asher Benjamin's influential work, the first original architecture book printed in America. Asher Benjamin began his career as an apprentice builder in Connecticut and left his distinctive mark on the architecture of New England in many notable houses, churches, and civic buildings. His most enduring influence came through his pattern books, which defined the "late colonial" style in America and provided a home-grown architectural guide… Read More

2017. BENTLEY, William. Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor. With 20 artworks by John Baldessari. Oblong 4to. Bound in a leatherette 3-ring binder with decorative stamping and a photograph of the author and the artist. San Francisco: Arion Press, 2017 This imaginative project is unusual in that the artist first produced the artwork, which served as the inspiration for the writer. The illustrations are based on publicity stills from old movies with the actors faces removed with die-cut circles. Bentley wrote scenes that were not in the movies at all, but are to be read as rejects, the ribbons of film that ended up on the curving-room floor. One of an edition of 300 copies, signed by Baldessari and Bentley.

1723. THEATER. Commentatio de personis vulgo larvis seu mascheris von der Carnevals-Lust. By Christoph H. Berger. Frontispiece, 8 ff. (including title printed in red and black with vignette), 340 pp., 37 ff. (including errata and binder's instructions). Illustrated with 153 (i.e. 154) engravings on 86 leaves, of which 4 are folding and 5 are pasted in. 8vo., 204 x 166 mm, bound in contemporary German brown calf. Frankfurt & Leipzig: G.M. Knochium, 1723. Only Edition of this interesting work on the theater of Antiquity - the engraved plates by Johann Georg Wolffgang (1662-1744) show masks and costumes known to be used in the six plays of Terence (Andria, Eunuchus, Heautontimoroumenos, Adelphi, Phormio and Hecyra), deriving from the famous Terence manuscript now known as Vaticanus 3868 (see K.E. Weston, "The Illustrated Terence MSS" in: Harvard Studies in Classical Philology XIV, 1903). The work, an expansion of Berger's Dissertatio de jure personarum (1720), refers… Read More

1912. [FUTURISM]. BERNHEIM-JEUNE & Cie. Les Peintres Futuristes Italiens: Boccioni, Carra, Russolo, Balla, Severini. 32 pp Illustrated with black-&-white plates. 8vo, bound in publisher's orange wrappers. Paris, Chez Mm. Bernheim - Jeune & Cie. (1912). The first major exhibition of the major artists of the Futurist movement outside Italy. The wrappers are slightly soiled, but it is nevertheless a sound copy.

1940. BETTENCOURT, Pierre. Deux sans Trois. Illustrated with 6 pochoirs by S. Hladky (Pierre Bettencourt). 8vo., bound in publisher's wrappers and slip case. Belle-Roche (Saint-Maurice-d'Ételan): par Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon, Seine-Inférieure, l'Auteur, 1940. A pristine copy of the first book written, printed, illustrated and published by the French printer-poet, Pierre Bettencourt. In this, his first book, he used pseudonyms for the names of the author, artist, printer and place of publication. The charming illustrations were executed in pochoir, and are, perhaps deliberately, reminiscent of the work of Serge Gladky. One of an edition of only 50 copies, all on Japon. OCLC lists only the copies in The Bibliotheque Nationale and the Bibliotheque Doucet.

1779. BETTI, Giovanni Battista. A' Dilettanti delle Bell'Arti. Contents includes illustrated engraved title and 24 engraved plates. Oblong folio, 220 x 300 mm, bound in contemporary paste-paper wrappers, preserved in a red half morocco folding box. Florence: 1779. First Edition of Betti's imaginative illustrated alphabet-book, containing 24 full-page oblong plates of richly ornamented capital letters, each letter standing in a bucolic landscape with a corresponding figure from Greek or Roman mythology. It is a work "rare and distinctive for the range of its subjects" (DBI) and draws heavily on the imagery of pastoral Greece. 6 copies in America according to OCLC. Getty, Harvard, NYPL, Redwood Library, Austin, Newberry. An unsophisticated copy, with occasional spots and minor stains, but nevertheless an appealing copy. Bonacini 200; Berlin Kat. 5300; Guilmard 332: See Garvey, E.M. Introduction to the 1969 Facsimile published by Harvard.

1932. BEZBORODOV, S. Bolsheviki otkryli Sibir. [The Bolsheviks discovered Siberia]. 170, [6] pp., illustrated throughout with photographs and photomontage. Small 4to, 225 x 180 mm., bound in publisher's decorated dark blue cloth. Moscow; Leningrad: Co-operative Publishing Society of Foreign Workers in the U.S.S.R., OGIZ, 1932. First Edition. A wonderfully designed children's book about the fulfillment of the first Five Year Plan in Siberia. Presumably only a Soviet child could have been interested in such an arcane topic. Early ownership inscription on the title, overall a fine copy.

1930. BOCCACCIO, Giovanni. The Decameron. Two volumes. xiii, 199; 200-382, [4] pp. 4to., bound in recent half maroon morocco, matching red silk over boards, black morocco spine labels gilt. New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1930. One of the earliest publications of the Limited Editions Club, and one of the most elegant. The books were designed by T.M. Cleland and printed by A. Colish. The chapter headings are beautifully printed in different colours. One of an edition of 1500 copies, signed by Cleland.

1664. BÖCKLER, Georg Andreas. Architectura Curiosa Nova. Part I. Fundamenta hydragogica, indolem[que] aquae, aëris interventu in altum levandae. Part II. Varios aquarum ac salientium fontium lusus per varia spectatu jucunda epistomiorum seu Siphonum genera. Part III. Magnum amoenissimorum fontium, machinarum[que] aquaeductoriarum sumtu magno exstructarum, ac per Italiam, Galliam, Brittaniam, Germaniam etc., visendarum, numerum. Part IV. Specus artificiales sumtuosissimas, cum pleris[que] Principium Europeorum Palatiis, hortis, aulis; nec non praecipuis monasteriis at[que] arcibus. Part V. Cum auctario figurarum elegantissimarum, ad hortorum topiaria vario ductu dividenda, nec non conclavium laquearibus ac pavimentis segmentandis, item[que]Labyrinthis construendis, adhibenandarum. Translated from the German into Latin by Johanne Christophoro Sturmio. Four parts in one volume. Part I: title, [viii], 30 pp., illustrated with 4 full-page numbered engravings. Part II: title, 13, [1] pp.,… Read More

1855. DE BOFARULL, Antonio, ed. Guia-Cicerone de Barcelona. 282, [2] pp. 8vo, 186 x 125 mm., bound in quarter green morocco over marbled boards, gilt spine, marbled endpapers. Barcelona: Imp. Hispana de V. Castanos, 1855. "Cicerone" refers to a tour guide who leads visitors, especially tourists, through historic sites. The term derives from the name Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman politician and orator, whose style the tour guide imitates. This guidebook, first published in 1847, describes the artistic monuments, historical events, and popular traditions of Barcelona, with a directory of streets and plazas at the end. Antonio De Bofarull (1821-1892) studied at the University of Barcelona. He was an archivist at the Archivo General de la Corona de Aragón, and author of various works in both Spanish and Catalán. Binding a little rubbed, minor foxing, over all very good. Palau 31299 (first edition).

1945. HEARTFIELD, John. The Soviet Financial System. By M.I. Bogolepov. 64 pp. Small 8vo., bound in wrappers designed by John Heartfield. Preserved in a new cloth folding box. London: Lindsay Drummond, 1945. A fine copy of this scarce little pamphlet, which is one of several items that Heartfield designed for the English publisher Lindsay Drummond. Published during the War, very few copies have survived. Siepmann A233.

1854. WASHINGTON, D.C. Bohn's Hand-Book of Washington. With an Appendix. Illustrated with twenty engravings of public buildings, etc. By Cassimir Bohn. 104 pp., illustrated with engraved frontispiece, 17 tinted full-page lithographs, fold out lithographic map of Washington, D.C., engraved fold out plan of the House and Senate chambers. 12mo, 148 x 92 mm., bound in publisher's blue cloth with gilt front cover and spine, cover design repeated in blind on the bottom cover, a.e.g. Washington, D.C.: Cassimir Bohn. sold by all the Booksellers, 1854. Second edition. A pre-Civil War guide to the United State's capital, embellished with attractive tinted lithographs of its famous buildings and monuments set against a fine blue sky. This guide finds the city in a state of transition, as the rapidly expanding country required a larger Capital Building, and the Washington Monument remains only a third complete (construction wouldn't be finished until 1884). Also illustrated are the White… Read More