Rare books from Camphor Bookstore

London: Richard Bentley, 1853. 2 Vol. 3/4 Leather over marbled paper covered boards, and eppr. First English edition of Alexandrine des Echerolles' memoirs of the Revolution in France. Alexandrine des Echerolles (La Ferte Hauterive, south of Moulins-Allier) was 13 y.o. when the Revolution forced her father, aunt and brothers to take refuge in Lyon. Her father had been elected colonel of the National Guards at Moulins, but when he was threatened with imprisonment he fled to Lyon then Switzerland, and left his daughter in the care of his sister. The aunt was murdered by the revolutionary court for refusing to reveal where her brother was living, and Alexandrine found herself alone, and relied on family and relations to taker her in.

Chez N. Etienne Lucas, Amsterdam, 1732. Volume 2 (of 2) only. Contes et Nouvelles En Vers: Nouvelle Edition Corrigee, Augmentee, & Enrichie de Tailles Douces Dessinees - Par Mr. Romain de Hooge. Text in French.Illustrated with 40 fine detailed half-page engravings, plus numerous chapter endpieces. An engraving precedes each fable. Illustrated by Romain de Hooge (or Romeyn de Hooghe / Romaine de Hoog) (1645-1708), fine Dutch artist, engraver, caricaturist. Size: 16 x 10cm. 285 pp. an index at the back. Condition: The Book LACKS a front cover board, and the back cover is barely attached but present. The book is in very good condition, all the prints and tales are present and in VG condition, the binding and spine are holding.

Waltham St. Lawrence, Berkshire; The Golden Cockerel Press, 1932. Hardcover (patterned cloth over leather spine). Ltd. edition #456/500. 73pp. Signed by Hugh Walpole on the dedication page. Privately printed with wood-engravings by Lynton Lamb. A fabulous account of Hugh Walpole's early life and a must read if you are a fan of his work. In near fine condition- a small chip at the top of the spine is the only blemish. Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole was an English novelist. A prolific writer, he published thirty-six novels, five volumes of short stories, two plays and three volumes of memoirs. His skill at scene-setting, his vivid plots, his high profile as a lecturer and his driving ambition brought him a large readership in the United Kingdom and North America. A best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s, his works have been neglected since his death.

Plutarch's Lives, translated from the original Greek; with Notes Critical and Historical and a Life of Plutarch by John Langhorne, D.D. and William Langhorne, A.M. in Six Volumes.Printed for J. Mawman et al., 1819. lx,394 & 532 & 526 & 453 & 532 &488pp., engraved frontis engraved portrait. Original tooled calfskin binding. A Complete set all volumes in VG condition, - any gilt or titles have completely worn off, the calfskin and the binding is sound and strong, and the books are clean, unmarked and very clear.

Intérieurs II & Intérieurs IIITwo volumes from a set by Léon Moussinac, which provides an important documentation of furniture and interiors by notable French Art Deco designers, each volume with an introduction by Moussinac followed by a large number of plates (52 in II, and 53 in III), many of which are done in pochoir, depicting a variety of interiors and associated types of furniture, including designs for studies, bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, nurseries, dining rooms, salons, men's and lady's rooms, libraries, smoking rooms, and others. Large 4to. Original publisher's printed portfolio-style boards, tie-bound. Paris (Éditions Albert Lévy/Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts) 1924-1926. (Collection Documentaire d'Art Moderne.) 1924 1925.The second volume displays the work of Dominique, Dufrène, René Gabriel, André Groult, Joubert et Petit, Rob. Mallet-Stevens, and F. Nathan. The third volume features Djo Bourgeois, Mme. Chauchet-Guilleré, Andre Fréchet, M. Guillemard, René Herbst, E.… Read More

Shakespeare's Tragedies; Comedies; Historical Plays, Poems & Sonnets. 3 Vols. Robert Rivière & Son Ltd. / Printed by Temple Press, London. (n.d. circa 1920s?) Three Beautifully bound volumes in red half-leather over cloth. Gilt tooled spine w ribs and titles. Top edges bright gilt. Housed in a cloth lined slipcase box. 981pp, [1]; 887pp, [1]; 847pp, [1]. 7"x5"x3.5" in in box. Elegant leather bound set, well made and in very good condition. The cloth wrapped slipcase box is discolored on the bottom. Unmarked, some discoloration to the leather at the bottom of the spine of the comedies volume.

No Thanks by e. e. cummings
Golden Eagle Press, New Rochelle, NY. 1935. First trade edition limited to 900 copies. Hardcover beveled bound in tan cloth, titles in red on the cover and spine. Oblong, 16mo. Unmarked and in VG condition in the original paper jacket - torn and fragile. the front board is very slightly bowed. "No Thanks contains some of Cummings's most daring literary experiments, and it represents most fully his view of life―romantic individualism. The poems celebrate an openly felt response to the beauties of the natural world, and they give first place to love, especially sexual love, in all its manifestations."

Jean-Michel Basquiat Vrej Baghoomian, 21 October to 25 November 1989. Vrej Baghoomianm Inc., 1989 1st edition exhibition catalog printed 1989. 153 pages. Hardcover, Cloth binding with dust jacket. 10 x 12 inches. Color reproductions throughout. This book was published from an edition of 4,000 at the retrospective exhibition held in 1989 just over one year after the after the death of Basquiat. 69 key works are featured including CPRKR, Red Warrior, untitled Skull and Horn Players. Text by: Francesco Pellizzi and Glenn O'Brien. Condition: near fine / as new book and jacket.

Rimbaud: Complete Works, Selected Letters Translation, Introduction And Notes By Wallace Fowlie The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1966. Hardcover. Light blue cloth. 8vo. Bilingual with French & English text on facing pages. 370 pp. There is some very light spotting to the covers, otherwise unmarked and VG without the jacket. About the book (From the Univ. of Chicago blurb) "The enfant terrible of French letters, Jean-Nicholas-Arthur Rimbaud (1854-91) was a defiant and precocious youth who wrote some of the most remarkable prose and poetry of the nineteenth century, all before leaving the world of verse by the age of twenty-one. More than a century after his death, the young rebel-poet continues to appeal to modern readers as much for his turbulent life as for his poetry; his stormy affair with fellow poet Paul Verlaine and his nomadic adventures in eastern Africa are as iconic as his hallucinatory poems and symbolist prose. The first translation of the poet's complete works when it was… Read More

WASHINGTON IRVING'S FIRST BOOK: His Translation of DePons' South American Travel Account on the Eve of Revolution 1806 First Edition Vols. 1 & 2 (of 3)by Francois Joseph DePons
I. Riley and Co, New York, 1806. Volumes 1 & 2 (of 3) Hardcover in the original calfskin binding with leather spine labels (titles in gilt largely faded.) "Translated by an American Gentleman," Washington Irving, and this happens to be his first book. Illustrated with a large (26-1/2" x 17-3/4") folded map in the first volume - the map has been repaired (please see photos) in the upper right hands corner. The binding is sound on these antique books - the pages are age toned but in good condition, with foxing heavier in Vol 2 (particularly at the front of the book) than 1. The boards of Vol. 2 are slightly bowed and there's a fair amount of quill pen names and notes in the front and back of that volume.
About the book:Depons traveled through northeastern South America, including Venezuela and the Guianas, and observed the… Read More

Histoire civile et commerciale des colonies anglaises dans les Indes occidentales depuis leur découverte par Christophe Colomb jusqu'à nos jour, suivie d'un tableau historique et politique de L'ile de Saint-Domingue avant et depuis la Revolution Francaise
The History, Civil and Commercial, of the English Colonies in the West Indies...from their discovery by Christopher Columbus to the present day, followed by a historical and political picture of the island of Santo Domingo before and since the French Revolution
by Bryan Edwards, and translated into French
Published by Dentu, 1801 (Year 9). An antiquarian book with an antique litho map of the West Indies folded and attached at the front. The first edition of the book (originally published in 1793) in French. Translated by François Soulés. The book is in the original hardcover binding - calfskin spine over marble paper covered boards. The titles and bands on the spine are almost entirely faded. 490 pp. The book is in VG condition, lightly foxed and… Read More

The Works of Jane Austen in 12 Volumes
Limited to 250 copies
Roberts Brothers, Boston, 1892. Octavo, 12 volumes, bound in leather and marbled boards. Gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, inner dentelles, frontispieces. The set is complete. In addition to her novels (Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Emma, Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey) it includes a volume of her letters, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
This set includes Jane Austen and Her Times by G. E. Mitton - as a 13th volume, identically bound.
G. P. Putnam's Sons, London; Methuen & Co, New York, 1905. B & W illustrations, B & W frontispiece with tissue.
Limited to 250 copies and in exceptionally good condition.

Notes on the State of Virginia by Thomas JeffersonPrinted by David Carlisle for Thomas & Andrews [et al], Boston, 1801. Eighth American Edition. In original calfskin morocco label, gilt. 364pp. folding map, and folding table - lacking the frontis. portrait of Jefferson. The map by Samuel Lewis is dated 1794. It is the same map as that issued with the Philadelphia 1794 edition. Condition: The map is torn and so is the fold-out table (please see the photos) This edition is lacking the engraved frontis. portrait of Jefferson that usually accompanies the Eighth Edition. About the Notes: Notes on the State of Virginia, by Thomas Jefferson, is at once a compendium of information about the state and a sweeping commentary on natural history, society, politics, education, religion, slavery, liberty, and law. Many consider it the most important American book written before 1800. Jefferson originally composed the work in 1781 in answer to queries posed by a French diplomat, and then revised and expanded it into… Read More

The Kingdom of Evil: A Continuation of the Journal of Fantazius Mallareby Ben HechtChicago: Pascal Covici, 1924. First Edition, Limited Edition. Twelve full-page black-and-white illustrations by Anthony Angarola, including frontispiece, plus illustrated endpapers. This edition limited to 2,000 numbered copies of which 1,900 were offered for sale by subscription only. This is copy No. 669. Octavo hardcover in the original jacket, 9 3/4"x 6 1/4", 211 pp. Black cloth with bright gilt logo on front board, and titles on the spine. An interesting attempt at science fiction from the renowned screenwriter (Front Page, Scarface, Notorious) with striking illustrations. A scarce limited edition that's in excellent condition, in a somewhat worn, faded paper jacket.

The Twilight of the Gods and Other Tales by Richard Garnett. With an introduction by T. E. Lawrence. Illustrated by Henry Keen.London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 1924. xviii, [2], 279. [1], 1 ad'] pages. Frontispiece, endpapers, illustrations and 28 engraved plates by Henry Keen. Original pictorial cloth gilt. Octavo. First illustrated edition.Extraordinary illustrations from lithographed plates. A classic compilations of fantasy, legends and fairy tales in excellent condition- without a jacket.