Rare books from 20 Ants Fine Books IOBA

New York: R. F. Fenno & Company. Very Good with no dust jacket. N.D.. Hardcover. Light soil and wear to covers, spine ends, and tips. A white spot and two light spots to the front cover. Front endpaper has a creased corner, 1/4" closed tear at the head, and a "ghost" offset from a sticker that isn't present.; A reprint from one of R. F. Fenno & Company's original series of approximately thirteen pamphlets of Oscar Wilde's poetry issued by R. F. Fenno & Company. The table of contents list the poems; Impressions: I. Les Silhouettes II. La Fuite de la Lune, The Grave of Keats, Theocritus: A Villanelle, In The Gold Room: A Harmony, Ballade De Marguerite, The Dole of the King’s Daughter, Amor Intellectualis, Santa Decca, A Vision, Impression De Voyage, The Grave Of Shelley, and By The Arno. This poetry was generally derided by Wilde's critics as lightweight and derivative of Algernon Charles Swinburne's work. Some of these poems are reprinted… Read More

Barre, Massachusetts: Imprint Society. Fine with no dust jacket. 1971. Limited/Numbered Edition. Hardcover. 0876360126 . The Near Fine slipcase has a faint mark at the tail of the spine edge. ; Early science fiction that imagines a human colonized brick and mortar satellite moon of the Earth. Satirical subtext throughout, based on personalities and society in Boston, MA. Originally serialized in The Atlantic in 1869 and 1870. Copy 712 of a limited edition of 1,950. Signed by the illustrator. Seventeen woodcuts printed in brown, directly from the blocks, by Michael McCurdy, prolific illustrator and founder of the Penmaen Press. Printed by Spiral Press on fine paper. Half dark linen with gilt image of a telescope, the remainder natural linen on boards. This is the later binding, the first being in quarter brown linen, no image, the remainder natural. Slipcase is clean, with sharp corners, and a clean, woodcut illustrated, title label that wraps around the spine edge. Signed by the… Read More

East Aurora, New York: The Roycroft Printing Shop. Very Good+ with no dust jacket. 1896. Limited/Numbered Edition. Hardcover. A light mark to the front cover, spine tail slightly bumped, bruise or dent to the head edge of the rear cover. Occasional, foxing to the pages, some pages foxed in the gutter at the head. ; In a periodical, Roycroft printed the first US appearance of George Bernard Shaw's essay on the institution of the church, primarily the Catholic Church, and churchgoers' reliance on organized religion. Although Shaw, via a postcard, had given Elbert Hubbard permission to publish this work, Shaw was horrified to find that Hubbard had taken liberties and edited the essay instead of printing it as it stood. Thereafter, Shaw disassociated himself from the Roycroft version, treated it as a piracy, and did not miss an opportunity to vilify Elbert Hubbard. From the essay, Shaw's thoughts on how drink, smoke, drugs, or the lack thereof, produce creative works, including… Read More

London: Elliot Stock. Very Good- with no dust jacket. 1888. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Ex-library, the only evidence being two small ink stamps to front pastedown. Front hinge just starting at tail, rear hinge just starting at head, both still well-attached. Leather spine heavily rubbed, but gilt title still quite visible and bright, spine tail bumped. Corners bumped. Cloth of back cover barely starting to lift at the edge of the leather spine. ; This "prose bibliography" by the Editor William Plumptre Johnson (1853-1938) covers William Makepeace Thackeray's early essays, articles, and reviews for periodicals like The Snob, The Chimera, The National Omnibus, The National Standard, The Constitutional, The Literary Gazette, Frazer's Magazine, and The Times. Thackeray owned, co-owned, or had a financial interest in many of the periodicals he wrote for: in summary he was party to many publishing failures and his successes were always brief. Also covers his known "short… Read More

Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dust jacket. 1926. Limited Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Slight wear to tips and head and tail edges of the covers. The dust jacket is sunned and has slight chipping at the rear head edge and the head and tail at the spine. ; Fourteen humorous essays from this master of the genre and novelist, journalist, and poet. Christopher Morley's style is that of a man of letters and his work is dry, subtle humor, not lowest common denominator funny. Each essay illustrated with an ink drawing by Walter Jack Duncan, a noted book and magazine illustrator who drew scenes from WWI Europe for the US government. Copy 83 of a limited edition of 365 and boldly signed by Morley on the limitation page. Backed in black cloth with festive covers of textured black cloth printed with bunches of grapes in purple and gold, over boards. Paper title label to spine. Gilt head of the text block with uncut and rough fore edges. A page… Read More

Westwood, NJ: Kindle Press. Very Good+ with no dust jacket. 1971. Limited/Numbered Edition. Hardcover. Common to this edition, the spine is quite sunned compared to the dark green half cloth, but gilt lettering remains bright. A pinpoint speck to the front cover's paper. The slipcase has minor wear to corners, the tail is bumped.; Sir Walter Scott's arguably best short story of the rough life of two cattle drivers in Scotland, privately printed in celebration of his bicentennial birthday. Copy 242 of an edition of 680 and signed on the colophon by Coleman O. Parsons who wrote an extensive Foreword for this edition. Frontispiece is a fanciful lion with spread claws, printed in red. The front pastedown bears a portrait of Scott, but I'm partial to the frontis, instead. Text block trimmed at the head edge. Printed by Meriden Gravure on Hale Paper's mould-made rag paper designed by F. T. Jackson and bearing a facsimile of Sir Walter Scott's signature of 1827. Bound by A.… Read More

London: William Heinemann. Very Good+ with no dust jacket. c.1916. Limited Signed Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Tail fore corners bumped, some light rubbing at the hinges, light overall foxing to the free endpapers with a bit on the pastedowns, light dampstain at the tail of the front free endpaper and the next two leaves, a sliver of unobtrusive foxing along the fore edge of numerous pages. Light scuffing to the cloth of the rear cover. The slipcase has light rubbing to all edges, with wear to the head and tail of the leather.; These 13 collected tales represent the traditions of the Allied nations of World War I and, arguably, amount to uplifting, positive propaganda, possibly for the young and most certainly for their parents. English, "Scotch," Welsh, Irish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, Siberian, and Belgian folk tales and "fairy" tales recount the meek besting the mighty and both people and the supernaturals working toward the common good.… Read More

Kingswood, Surrey: William Heinemann Ltd. - The Windmill Press. Very Good- with no dust jacket. 1927. Press Proof; First Printing. Hardcover. The first copy has a 3" split, without loss, along the front of the spine at head and a tiny spot to a page with offsetting to the adjacent page. The second copy has a 1/2" closed tear, without loss, to the leather at the spine head, a 5/15" split, without loss, to leather at the spine tail and a pinpoint spot to a page. Common to both copies: Boards are splayed, common to most copies of this book. Overall wear and scuffing to all surfaces and extremities. Spines have wear and some sun-lightening Faint toning at the edges of all pages. Verso of free endpapers has offsetting from some production process. Lack the ephemeral, plain dustwrappers.; TWO of only 12 copies of the press proof of the first pages composed and printed at The Windmill Press, Kingsmill, Surrey, on December 8th, 1927. The proof pages are the facing pages 2 and 3 from… Read More

Dublin Ireland: Cuala Press. Very Good+ with no dust jacket. 1942. Limited/Numbered Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Endpapers are wrinkled where they meet the gutter. Dark speck on front cover. Light, 1/2" long impression at the head edge of the front cover and a similar, very faint impression to the head edge of the back cover. Lower corners of the boards are bumped at the fore edge. Lacks the ephemeral tissue wrapper.; This compelling memoir recounts the author's childhood views of living in Dublin Ireland during seven consecutive winters, her summers being spent in County Cork. The memories are detailed and evoke both the chilled, gray days and the beauty of Dublin. Founded and operated by women, entirely, the Cuala Press was focused on new works in the emerging Irish Literary Revival. One of only two titles published by the press in 1942, as the entire press operation was moved to a different location in that year. This is copy 448 of an edition of 450 "finished in… Read More

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 .

Boston: Museum of Fine Arts (Boston). Very Good+ with no dust jacket. 1961. Booklet. Light crease at the spine of the front cover. ; A humorous tale of a crow or raven who successively, page after page, drinks and drains numerous glasses of spirits until its view of the world blurs, it stands, then falls on its back. Told wordlessly with drawings only and the story line is obvious. The stylized head and beak of the bird reoccur in Steinlen's book illustrations of crows and vultures. Swiss-born, creative polymath Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923) was painter, fabric designer, sculptor, periodical publisher, printmaker, and illustrator. Renowned for his turn-of-the-century, Art Nouveau-style, Steinlen produced drawings of Parisian street life, depicting average working-class people, actors, vendors, prostitutes, the upper class out of their element, criminals, and families, all in the urban environment. He was equally known for his many drawings of cats in both natural and… Read More

Ann Arbor, Michigan: Roger Jackson. Fine with no dust jacket. 1995. Limited/Lettered Signed Edition; First Edition. Broadside. The publisher's 8 1/2" x 11" letter is folded once. ; The 14 "vignettes" are the briefest essays about the author's real and imagined sexual encounters, all these vignettes being printed on unbound, small sheets. These encounters seem to be loveless and purely sexual. They are a.) Laundromat, b.) Being Single, c.) My Indifference, d.) Small Breast, e.) Lover's Nuts, f.) Blowsy Tart, g.) Older Lady, h.) Cotton Underpants, i.) Japanese Businesswoman, j.) Femme Fatale, k.) Active Sex Life, l.) Being Naked, m.) Suntan Lotion and Whisky, n.) Three Emancipated Women. Includes both the limited and trade editions housed in the publisher's folder. Limited edition of 26 lettered copies, this one being copy W and signed by the author on the special bifolium. This special inclusion is a brief essay about a writer who wanted Saunders to have… Read More

Trumansburg, NY: Out of Step Press. Fine with no dust jacket. 2016. Numbered Edition; First Printing. Pamphlet. The author's non-linear poem about the billeting of soldiers in civilian homes in wartime. Copy 89 of a limited edition of 250. Folded into the form of a letter, the work was letterpress printed in wraps of handmade "combat paper" made from military uniforms. The author says: "Some time ago-maybe a year, maybe two? I had a conversation with some of my Combat Paper brothers (well, the kids call them their combat paper uncles, so it follows…) that led to me writing the poem "Quartering." Which was informed by them, of course, and by all the rooms I'm in, and by imagining what is really required of all the caregivers I love. It's a thought experiment: if we tore down the barracks at military hospitals and offered incentives for Americans in the surrounding neighborhoods to quarter injured service members, what would the honest instructions… Read More

No Place Stated: The Golden Bough Press. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1930. Limited/Numbered Edition. Hardcover. The free endpapers have a slight curl, likely from the marbling process. Spine and joints slightly darker than the rest of the leather. Minor rubbing to the joints, cover paper abraded where it wraps under the tail edge of the rear board, corners bumped with wear through to the boards.; Daudet's novel of the personal failings and stumbling, lurching relationship of a young Southern French student Jean Gaussin and his older Parisian lover Fanny Legrand. Jean is troubled by Fanny's life of luxury from many profitable, personal relationships: an engineer, a poet, an engraver, and a sculptor who had her pose for his statue of Sappho. After their living in the country and his dalliance with a young woman, it all falls apart. In the end, Fanny leaves him with little but a letter and he's right to lament his "...broken, wasted life, all wrecked and tearful... From… Read More

Waltham Saint Lawrence, Berkshire, [England]: The Golden Cockerel Press. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1925. Limited/Numbered Edition. Hardcover. Common to this edition, both volumes have a sun-darkened spine, and the cover cloth has overall soiling. Volume 1: The paper band has two scrapes and an area of abrasion with surface loss to the front, an area of abrasion loss to the back, minor chipping to edges, and the cloth has light reddish staining to the back. Volume II: The paper band has an area of abrasion with surface loss to the front, a scrape and an area of abrasion loss to the back, and minor chipping to edges.; One of the finest works of fiction in English literature, it's a once a fantastic, imagined voyage and a biting, on-target satire of English politics, customs, and society. The stupidity of war is illustrated by Lilliput going to war with Blefuscu in a dispute over which end of an egg should be broken. In this first-person narrative by Lemuel Gulliver, surgeon and sea… Read More