Rare books from James & Mary Laurie Booksellers (A.B.A.A.)

Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by Georg Ehret and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Image measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Some cosmetic retouching in gouache. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS originally published in three volumes over a 36 year period from1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional practice of using translucent water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece was meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Ehret contributed 44 of the 180 illustrations in the entire work and is the single most important botanical artist of the era. HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for… Read More

Fine. Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by Georg Ehret and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Leaf measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS published in three volumes over a 36 year period from 1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional practice of using translucent water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece was meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Ehret contributed 44 of the 180 illustrations in the entire work and is the single most important botanical artist of the era. HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for only the most discriminating collectors.

Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by "E" and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Leaf measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS published in three volumes over a 36 year period from 1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional use of water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece is meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Several artists from different European nations were involved in this project giving a multi-ethnic flavour to the complete work. HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for only the most discriminating collectors.

Paris: The Olympia Press, 1959. 1st. Paperback. Very Good. First edition, 8vo, 226 pp., green wraps with dust jacket. Green border on title page, "Francs 1500" stated on dust jacket. Number 76 in The Olympia Press's Traveller's Companion Series, one of 5,000 copies. Lower front of green wraps slightly unattached from spine. Small chip to heel of green wrap. Dust jacket has minor chipping to head and heel, not affecting author or publisher lettering and a one inch closed tear from the mid foredge inward. Book and dust jacket are very good plus. Overall a desirable copy of this seminal beat novel.

Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by "S" and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Leaf measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Some cosmetic retouching in gouache. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS published in three volumes over a 36 year period from 1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional use of water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece is meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Several artists from different European nations were involved in this project giving a multi-ethnic flavour to the complete work. HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for only the most discriminating collectors.

Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by Georg Ehret and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Leaf measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Some cosmetic retouching in gouache. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS published in three volumes over a 36 year period from 1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional practice of using translucent water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece was meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Ehret contributed 44 of the 180 illustrations in the entire work and is the single most important botanical artist of the era. HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for only the most… Read More

Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by Georg Ehret and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Leaf measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS published in three volumes over a 36 year period from 1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional practice of using translucent water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece was meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Ehret contributed 44 of the 180 illustrations in the entire work and is the single most important botanical artist of the era. HORTUS NITIDISSIMUS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for only the most discriminating collectors.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1910. Fine Condition. Titles included are Birds and Poets, Far and Near, Fresh Fields, Indoor Studies, Leaf and Tendril, The Light of Day, Literary Values Ect., Locusts and Wild Honey, Pepaction, Riverby, Signs and Seasons, Wake-Robin, Ways of Nature, Whitman a Study, and Winter Sunshine. Each volume is beautifully bound in half green morocco with marbled boards and marbled end papers. Spines are elaborately stamped in gilt with leaf and floral motifs. Top edges gilt.

London: Chatto & Windus, 1935. 1st. Hardcover. Very good/very good. Bound in publisher's original orange cloth faded through the dust jacket at the spine. The dust jacket is sun faded and spotted at the spine and rubbed at the extremities but otherwise in very good condition. First English language edition of one of Traven's scarcest books.

Venice: Edizioni La Biennale Venezia, 1977. 1st. Hardcover. Fine/fine. Bound in publisher's original black cloth, cover and spine stamped in white. Very slight bumping to top left corner of cloth, overall in excellent condition. Profusely illustrated throughout in black & white. Text in Italian.

Madison, Wisconsin: Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute., 1931. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Exterior wear. Author's first book. Bound in publisher's original black and green cloth with spine lettered in gilt. 9 7/8 inches tall, 299 pages. Wear through the cloth at the spine and extremities. A few dime size gouges out of the upper rear cover. The text bloc is sound and tight. This copy has a presentation signed and dated by Aldo Leopold during the year of publication when Leopold was 44 years old. This is a remarkabley rare autograph that you may never see offered for sale in the future. Leopold's most famous book, A Sand County Almanac, was published in 1949, a year after he died helping a neighbor fight a wildfire. Thus, NO copies of that famous book can be found signed by the author. Leopold's importance as one of the founders of the science of wildlife management and the wilderness movement in America cannot be over estimated.

Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1982. 1st . Hardcover. Fine/fine. Photographs by Michael Montfort. Bound in publisher's original tan paper boards with printing in blue, green and rust, with glossy photograph of Bukowski on the front cover. One of 125 numbered copies signed by Bukowski and Montfort, 100 of which were for sale. Illustrated with 20 tipped in glossy color photographs. Original acetate wrapper in fine condition. Housed in the publisher's original slipcase covered in marbled paper. Also enclosed is an 8 inch tall prospectus with a glossy photo of Bukowski on the front cover, signed by him along with the letter "J." This copy is accompanied by two additional items given to a good customer by John Martin and the Black Sparrow Press: one is a racing program from Santa Anita for Wednesday, December 30, 1981 with extensive notes by Bukowski in black felt tipped pen. Also included are two original drawings by Bukowski on one 8 1/2 11 inch sheet of paper with his signature "Buk" in the… Read More

New York: Colonial , 1902. Hardcover. Fine. Edited by Edmund Clarence Steadman and George Edward Woodberry. Bibliophile's Edition limited to ten numbered and registered sets signed by the editors and publishers. Bound in brown morocco with decorations stamped in gilt on the front and back covers and spine, five raised bands, top edge gilt, fore edge uncut with silk moire end papers. With over 50 full page illustrations. Contains engraved plates in three different states by J. Sartain from the original painting by S. Osgood, now owned by the New York Historical Society.

1993. Fine. Original color lithograph. One of 50 numbered lithographs signed by Baskin. 23 x 20 inches. Fine condition. Matted and framed to 28 x 28 inches.

Warrington: William Eyers, 1777 and 1784. 1st. Hardcover. large 4to., contemporary half calf and marblrd boards. Front hinge separated. 21 folding plates with some offsetting. 820 pp. First major practical work on prison reform. An immensley influential book by the high sheriff of Bedford gaol that found permanent support in the Howard League. "His single-handed campaign not only caused a revolution in his lifetime, but is the direct progenitor of subsquent work in the most critical branch of penal reform." - Carter & Muir, Printing & the Mind of Man, 224. The fine plates include plans of the jails Howard visited in Paris, Rome, Milan, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Amsterdam, ect.; and the layout of an ideal prison that would put in effect the reforms he urged. EB (1911), XIII, pp. 832-3. There was an additional appendix in 1880. Kenneth Nebenzahl's description laid in from I'm sure is decades old.