Rare books from Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Medieval Manuscripts

Westminster: Beaumont Press, 1921-22. FIRST EDITIONS. EACH ONE OF 75 COPIES ON JAPANESE VELLUM OF THE EDITION DE LUXE SIGNED BY THE PUBLISHER AND ARTIST (of a total of 475 copies). 222 x 152 mm. (8 3/4 x 6"). Two separately issued but companion volumes.. Original vellum-backed decorative paper boards. Reading with vignette on title in orange and green, two plates in the same colors, one facsimile of writing in text, device on final page, stylized illustration of a tree on front and rear endpapers; "Berneval" with woodcuts of Naples and Paris printed in blue on the front and rear endpapers, two-color title page woodcut, one plate, a facsimile of a Wilde letter, and printer's woodcut device; our special deluxe version WITH THREE ADDITIONAL WOODCUTS at the back of each volume, all the woodcuts as well as the cover design by Randolph Schwabe. Ransom, p. 211; Tomkinson, p. 17. ◆Berneval spine just a bit darkened, otherwise FINE, UNWORN COPIES that have obviously been little used, as they open stiffly… Read More

Northern France [probably Paris], ca. 1460s. 130 x 98 mm. (5 1/8 x 3 7/8"). Single column, 14 lines in a fine gothic book hand. Attractively matted. The text similarly decorated as in the previous entry, but with the panel border on the verso inhabited by a long-tailed pheasant, the same side WITH A DRAMATIC MINIATURE (measuring 35 x 33 mm.) OF SAINT GREGORY CELEBRATING MASS, the saint holding aloft the communion wafer WHILE THE FIGURE OF CHRIST RISES FROM THE ALTAR, BLOOD FROM THE WOUND TO HIS HAND CASCADING INTO THE CHALICE on the altar surface, the wall behind displaying the "Arma Christi," Gregory's doubting deacon kneeling behind him, and beside the deacon, a noblewoman recognizable as the owner of the Book of Hours. ◆A little faint soiling near edges, otherwise in fresh, bright, and altogether pleasing condition. Representing the most heightened of religious moments in general as well as a key point in the life of Saint Gregory specifically, this leaf features compelling actions being… Read More

Oxford: Shakespeare Head Press, 1930-31. No. 302 OF 450 COPIES on paper (and 10 on vellum). 292 x 203 mm. (11 1/2 x 8"). Five volumes. Translated by George Chapman. Publisher's original burnt-orange half morocco over cream-colored buckram, edges untrimmed. In a later paper-covered slipcase. With 52 wood engravings by John Farleigh, comprised of two frontispieces, woodcut-framed title pages to volumes I and V, and 48 full-page cuts. With ink ownership inscription of Daisy Patterson Hall on limitations pages. Ransom, p. 17; Franklin, p. 236; Horne, p. 185. ◆Overall fading and significant chafing to spines, minor dressing residue to leather, faint dampstain covering about a third of the back cover of volume V (a few tiny stray stains on the spine of the same volume), but the bindings showing little wear, and the sides of the other volumes (often found foxed) virtually spotless and very pleasing. Internally a beautiful copy, as fresh and clean as one could hope for. This is the major modern fine… Read More

Cambridge: Printed by C. J. Clay & Sons; London: William Clowes and Sons, ca. 1890. 146 x 87 mm. (5 3/4 x 3 1/2"). [340] leaves; 588 pp. DELIGHTFUL ONLAID, MOLDED, AND PAINTED VELLUM BINDING BY THE ROYAL SCHOOL OF ART NEEDLEWORK, upper cover with raised bronze frame enclosing two angels in blue robes, one with molded bronze wings and nimbus, the other with gilt wings and halo, the onlaid lettering "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" in a semi-circle above them; lower cover with a simpler representation of a seraph in blue and gold; smooth spine divided into panels by blue and gold bands with emanating pairs of wings, gilt titling, all edges gilt. ◆Upper cover with paint a bit rubbed, gilt a little dulled, and with several tiny chips to the raised border and angel wings, a hint of soiling to vellum; not as splendid as it once was, but still A DELIGHTFUL EXAMPLE retaining most of its original appeal, the binding entirely solid and with nothing approaching a fatal problem, and the text in fine state. This… Read More

London: Printed for T. Basset, 1687. 392 x 247 mm. (15 1/2 x 9 3/4"). 2 p.l., xxxii, [26], 41, [1], 813, [45] pp. Pleasing contemporary sprinkled calf, covers paneled in blind with fleuron cornerpieces, raised bands, original tan morocco label. With woodcut headpieces, decorative initials, and genealogical tables in the text, engraved allegorical frontispiece, portrait of the author, six double-page maps, and two double-page battle plans. Wing R-168. ◆Minor chips to head and tail of spine, short cracks to head and tail of front joint, corners rather bumped, covers with a dozen small patches of lost patina from insect activity, but the completely unsophisticated original binding still solid and generally well preserved. A handful of gatherings with very faint dampstain to top two inches of paper, two quires and one map with faint dampstain to top third--but nowhere is the discoloration anything except barely perceptible, one leaf with small hole in text affecting three words, Sss3 with printing… Read More

London: Macmillan and Co, 1922. 156 x 105 mm. (6 1/8 x 4 1/8"). lxvi, [II], 340 pp.Selected and arranged by Stopford A. Brooke. Attractive contemporary moss green morocco, gilt in the style of Roger Payne, covers with double gilt-rule frame, floral cornerpieces, raised bands, spine panels densely gilt, with multiple floral tools emanating from a central rosette, gilt titling, turn-ins ruled in gilt with floral cornerpieces like those on the covers, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Engraved vignette of Shelley's home on title page. ◆Spine lightly sunned (as always with green leather), free endpapers with faint offsetting from turn-ins, otherwise A VERY FINE COPY, with virtually no signs of use. This is a handsomely bound copy of a thoughtfully selected collection of Shelley's verse. Editor Stopford Brooke (1832-1916) was a prominent preacher and literary critic who wished to induce his audience, via these carefully chosen representative poems, to read the whole of the poet's canon. The works… Read More

Paris: Estes and Lauriat, 1888. No. 17 OF 50 COPIES of the Edition de Luxe, printed for the Continent. 435 x 300 mm. (17 1/4 x 11 3/4"). [2] leaves of text followed by plates. Publisher's ivory cloth, upper cover with two bands of gilt knotwork on a red background, gilt lettering, smooth spine with gilt titling and publisher's device, blue printed endpapers, all edges gilt. 60 ETCHINGS AND PHOTO-ETCHINGS ON JAPON tipped onto lettered cardstock. Baker & Ross F8 (prospectus for deluxe edition). ◆A sprinkling of very faint brown spots to tail edge of upper board, a couple of plates with trivial wrinkles or creases, but AN EXTREMELY FINE COPY, quite clean, fresh, and bright inside and out, with excellent impressions of the plates. This is an outstanding copy of an attractive portfolio containing a suite of plates created for a deluxe edition of the works of George Eliot produced by Estes and Lauriat. In addition to Eliot's eight novels, that edition included collected essays, poems, and a life of… Read More

Perusiae [Perugia]: ex officina Andreae Brixiani, 1563. SOLE EDITION. 210 x 155 mm. (8 1/4 x 6"). 4 p.l., 78, [4] leaves. 19th century vellum-backed pink marbled paper boards, smooth spine, black morocco label, remnants of paper (shelf?) label at foot of spine, newer endpapers. Printer's device on title page. With Greek inscription in ink on title page, occasional ink marginalia, and with a page of inked notes written in Latin in an early hand on blank verso of final leaf. Leaf *3r with an inexpert but endearing pen-and-ink drawing of a rider on a galloping horse below the dedication, with some pencilled embellishments around it; A4r with an ink-drawn small face in one margin. EDIT 16 CNCE 23145; Gehl, "Advertising or fama?: local markets for schoolbooks in sixteenth-century Italy" in Costas, ed., "Print Culture and Peripheries in Early Modern Europe" (2012). ◆Corners a little bumped, boards lightly chafed, title page a bit soiled and browned, four leaves affected by the same small burn hole (a… Read More

Pleasing teal morocco, covers with seven parallel blind-tooled vertical lines dotted with small gilt stars that form alternating horizontal rows, the lines interrupted on the upper cover by gilt titling, smooth spine with six tiny, equidistant gilt dots. Original illustrated blue-green paper wrappers bound in.
With 11 figures in the text. Front pastedown with book label of J. F. Fuggles; front free endpaper with ink signature of G. B. Bell on recto and pencilled note on verso attributing the binding to Arthur Johnson. 1945 Revised Edition of this text, in its (slightly faded) original paper wrapper, laid in at front. ◆Spine sunned to blue gray, but a fine copy, the binding otherwise unworn and the text entirely clean and fresh.One of a series of pamphlets on the craft by master bookbinder Douglas Cockerell, this slim volume guides students through the process of lettering and simple tooling. Generally considered to be the leading binder of his day, Cockerell (1870-1945) exerted "more influence on… Read More

London: Edward Moxon, 1846. Fourth Edition. 170 x 100 mm. (6 3/4 x 4 1/8"). Two volumes.. ESPECIALLY PRETTY MOSS GREEN CRUSHED MOROCCO BY FLORENCE PAGET (stamp-signed "F. P. 1907" on rear turn-in), covers with delicate gilt frame of tulips and daisies on curling stems, floral spray cornerpieces, raised bands, spine panels with gilt daisy bouquets, gilt lettering, pastedowns framed with gilt fillets, floral spray cornerpieces, all edges gilt. Wise 15. ◆Spines faintly and evenly sunned, tiny scuff to head edge of one spine, endpapers a little foxed and with the usual offsetting from morocco turn-ins, isolated trivial marginal foxing or smudges, other insignificant imperfections, but A VERY FINE SET, clean and fresh internally in a virtually unworn binding. This collection of verse from the poet laureate's early career was attractively bound by Florence Paget, one of a small group of distinguished female binders at work in England at the turn of the century and a binder Tidcombe praises for the… Read More

London: Bernard Quaritch, 1859. FIRST EDITION, ONE OF ONLY 250 COPIES PRINTED, with the misprint "Lightning" corrected on p. 4. 212 x 160 mm. (8 1/4 x 6 3/8"). xiii, [1], 21 pp. (followed by blank leaves added by the binder). Near-contemporary pebble-grain rose-colored buckram, flat spine with gilt lettering. In red cloth chemise and handsome later slipcase of rose polished calf, its sides with gilt-ruled border and scrolling cornerpieces, the back with raised bands, gilt compartments with floral sprig centerpiece, two black morocco labels. Front pastedown with ink owner signature of William Bell Scott (see below); title page with ink notations "Tetrastichs [sic] of Omar the Tent Maker" and "Translated by Edward Fitzgerald [sic]" in Bell's hand; marginal annotations in pencil. Rear pastedown with 1879 advertisement for the fourth edition of the Rubaiyat. Potter 1; Ashley II:121; Grolier "English" 97; See Day, "History of English Literature 1837 to Present," pp. 65-66. ◆Cloth spine and board edges… Read More

Amsterdam: Printed for the Wetsteins and Smith, 1732. First Printing of this Edition. 480 x 305 mm. (19 x 12"). 13 p.l., 247, [1] (blank) pp.; 1 p.l., 249-524 pp., [2] leaves. Two volumes, continuously paginated, bound in one. Translated by John Dryden, John Addison, Alexander Pope, and other "eminent hands," with explications by Abbé Banier. Contemporary dark brown calf, sturdily rebacked to style, raised bands flanked by gilt rules, gilt lettering, hinges neatly reinforced. Engraved printer's device on title pages, arms of the Countess of Pembroke on dedication page, woodcut head- and tailpieces and initials, full-page engraved allegorical frontispiece, plus 130 HALF-PAGE COPPER-ENGRAVED PLATES BY BERNARD PICART, CHARLES LE BRUN, AND OTHERS. Parallel text in Latin and English. Front pastedown with book label of Newell's Library and with engraved bookplates of American travel writer James Hale Bates (1845-1901) and of John Peachey, Esq. Cohen-de Ricci 768; Brueggeman, pp. 624-25; Brunet IV, 285;… Read More

London: Chapman and Hall (first three); Bradbury & Evans (last two), 1843; 1845 [but 1844]; 1846 [but 1845]; 1846; 1848. FIRST EDITIONS. "Carol" in FIRST STATE (bound-in original front cover with closest interval between blind-stamped left border and left extremity of gilt wreath being 15 mm., "D" in Dickens on front cover in perfect condition); "Chimes," and "Cricket" in Second State; "Battle" with Fourth Issue of the engraved title, as usual ("Haunted" with no issue points). 167 x 102 mm. (6 5/8 x 4 1/8"). Five separately published works in five volumes.. SUPERB OLIVE GREEN CRUSHED MOROCCO COSWAY BINDINGS BY RIVIERE & SON FROM DESIGNS BY J. H. STONEHOUSE (stamp-signed on front turn-ins), upper covers all with two inlaid red morocco banners, that at head with title in gilt, that at foot lettered "Lord keep my Memory Green," and each binding FEATURING AT CENTER AN OVAL MINIATURE PORTRAIT BY MISS C. B. CURRIE (signed in gilt on rear turn-ins), the five showing Dickens at different ages, painted on… Read More

New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1925-26. The "Mandalay Edition.. 213 x 146 mm. (8 3/8 x 5 3/4"). 26 volumes bound in 14.. Recent dark blue highly polished calf, covers with vaguely Art Deco gilt frame, raised bands decorated with stylized silver Greek key rolls, azure morocco labels, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt. Stewart, p. 575. ◆One leaf with two-inch closed tear into text with no loss, isolated mild foxing or other trivial imperfections, but IN VERY FINE CONDITION, the text clean and fresh throughout, and the bindings as new. The is a pleasing deluxe set of the writings of one of Britain's best-known writers. Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) is most famous for his works portraying the lives of both natives and colonialists on the Indian subcontinent. An opponent of female suffrage and a staunch supporter of British imperialism, Kipling nonetheless had great sympathy for the traditions of India as well as the literary ability and desire to present it as a land of beauty and enchantment. He… Read More

London: Siegle, Hill and Company, [1910]. No. 154 OF 550 COPIES printed on handmade paper and SIGNED BY SANGORSKI AND SUTCLIFFE on the limitations page. 343 x 258 mm. (13 1/2 x 10"). 2 p.l., 6 pp., [19] leaves, [1], 16, [1] pp., [11] leaves. Translated by Edward FitzGerald. With an introduction by A. C. Benson. Original vellum boards featuring a peacock within an elaborate gilt frame by Sangorski & Sutcliffe (with "Rd. No. 562943" in small letters at foot, indicating the firm's registered design), smooth spine with gilt decoration and maroon morocco label, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. In a later woodgrain slipcase. Numerous decorative initials designed by Alberto Sangorski printed in gold and colors, and 12 COLOR PLATES (including a particularly elaborate title and first page), with illustrations designed by E. Geddes. Printed in red and black. Potter 81; Paas 4120. ◆Binding with half a dozen small yellow stains, spine lightly soiled, label with a couple small scratches, plates with light… Read More