Search Results: Titles starting with O from Honey & Wax Booksellers

New York: Abbeville Press, 1982. First American edition of this historical survey of the bed in theory and practice, "a wealth of general bed-lore" by Clockwork Orange author Anthony Burgess. "We may divine that kings and queens did not sleep any better on their ornate machines than peasants on their mud floors (Shakespeare is always going on about this), but the elaboration of a bed had nothing to do with somniference. It was all a matter of symbolism . . . the kingly bed anticipated the kingly tomb, and even hinted at the possibility of resurrection." Lavishly illustrated with photographs of famous beds, including those of Mary Tudor, George Washington, and Napoleon Bonaparte, and beds painted by the likes of Raphael, Goya, Delacroix, and Van Gogh, with a reproduction of Toulouse-Lautrec's "In Bed" on the dust jacket. A crisp fine copy. Single volume, measuring 9.5 x 6.5 inches: 96. Original full brown textured cloth, spine lettered in dark brown, original unclipped color pictorial dust jacket.… Read More

1983. Original illustration by prolific German artist-illustrator Monika Beisner for her celebrated word puzzle book for children. This beguiling image offers a visual collage of answers to the rhyming riddles that face the illustration in the book. The ginger cat at center represents the correct solution to the riddle: "My first is in chocolate but not in ham, My second's in cake and also in jam, My third at tea-time is easily found, My whole is a friend who's often around. What am I?" This image reflects the hallmarks of Beisner's mature style: surrealistic imagery featuring animals and landscapes, painted with exquisite detail and the luminescence of early illuminated manuscripts. Beisner first found her visual métier in her collaborations with Alison Lurie, The Heavenly Zoo (1979) and Fabulous Beasts (1981), and perfected her artistry in Book of Riddles. A first edition of the book accompanies this painting, which was exhibited and sold at London's Achim Moeller Gallery in 1983. A wonderful… Read More

Birmingham: Baskerville, 1773. First edition of the Baskerville Ariosto, octavo issue, with forty-six engraved plates. Set during the Saracen invasion of France, Orlando Furioso (1516-1532) follows the adventures of Charlemagne's high-strung knight Orlando, who goes mad for love. Ariosto's comic epic was hugely influential, going on to inspire works as various as The Faerie Queene, Much Ado About Nothing, Don Quixote, and Don Juan. Gaskell 48. Text in Italian. A very good set, in handsome contemporary bindings. Four octavo volumes: [34], lviii, 362, [2]; [2], 450, [2]; [2], 446, [2]; [2], 446 [2]. Contemporary full tree calf, Greek key border and floral cornerpieces in gilt to boards, raised bands, spine compartments ruled and patterned in gilt, red and black morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers. Copperplate frontispiece of Ariosto and forty-six engraved plates. Associati and Errata bound before Vita in Volume I (all present). Bookplates of Francis Broderip and… Read More