Rare books from White Fox Rare Books and Antiques

London: J. W. Parsham, 1778. Hand-Painted Vellum; With Full Morocco Box. Near Fine. 2 volumes in one. 12mo (4.75 by 3", 12 by 7 cm),. [4], 240, [20], [4], 216, [26] pp. Above all else, this is a beautifully painted vellum binding in the style of the Edwards of Halifax, a family of bookbinders in the late 18th century who developed a process of producing painting on vellum or parchment. The painting would actually lie under the surface, giving it a greater permanence as well as a subtle glassy aura. On the front of this particular binding is a lady, in late Georgian attire, playing an organ with a cherub at her side and a lute at her feet. The rear board has a tinted illustration of a castle in a park-like setting. The spine is divided into five compartments, four of which have a lyre ornament. Gilt ornamental borders and other detail work add further refinement to the binding. This comes with a brown levant gilt folding case, shaped like book, octavo in size, and with plush interior… Read More

Amsterdam: Chez E. Maaskamp, 1811. Second Edition. Full Calf. Near Fine. With 21 hand-colored plates watermarked from 1803 and 1811 (mostly the latter) with the names of Maaskamp and Colnaghi & Co. of London. Plates engraved by Portman after paintings of J. Kuyper. Colas 1681. Hiler 557. The plates stand out among so many others of the same era for their depiction of people doing things. These are truly genre scenes, as opposed to static costume poses, and they thus deliver visual information about aspects of the livelihood,custom and culture of the Dutch, as intended by the book's title, which translates as "Representations of the Costume, Morals and Customs of Holland in the Early 19th Century". While there is some scattered light foxing in the book, the plates themselves are for the most part exceptionally bright and clean. A few leaves have a tight crease now flattened -- the one plate that this affects it does so de minimus-ly and is scarcely worth comment. The full… Read More

Full Morocco. Very Good. With twelve leaves of verse, written in a calligraphic hand, and floral and/or illuminated decoration. The first leaf is of armorial decoration and the mottos "Ich Dien" atop and "ung ic sepvepsg" below, both written on ribboned ornament. The leaves following feature fluent rhymed verse surrounded by exquisite Victorian Era floral decoration. The poems have a spiritual or religious overtone; the glory of the book is the decoration, adapted from Gothic sources, and the decorated letter figures. The visual uplift compensates for the often somber tone of the poetry. The verse is titled "Flowers", "The Reaper and the Flowers", and "Suspiria", while some of it appears untitled. As everything is clearly meant to cohere as a single work, arguably the verse is all of one piece, and a remarkable aspect of this album is that the author harbored such a larger ambition. The morocco binding has considerable wear and rubbing. Minor… Read More

London: Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1818. First edition. Full Calf. Good Plus. xi, [3], 615, [1] pp. With 34 hand-colored plates, and numerous woodcuts interspersed through text (generally chapter headers and footers). 8vo, 8.75 by 5.5 inches, 22 by 14 cm. Extremely scarce with colored plates! Rebacked, with red spine labels. Foxing scattered, occasionally on the heavy side. Plates generally attractive, even when can see light foxing as in frontis. Majority are clean, or with light soilage in margins. Binding is tight.

Unbound. Very Good. Winsome collection of manuscript color illustrations, and light text, for part of a children's story. N.d., circa 1920s. The first card, or what is presumed to be so, bears the legend, "To My Valentine", with the name of "Ann Warren Stewart", written on a mailbox. Since Ann is a character in these drawings, we can assume she was not the author or illustrator but rather perhaps a recipient or dedicatee. The artwork is in the style, loosely, of Mabel Lucie Attwell or the Sally Dick and Jane readers. While it is simple, and perhaps even a touch naive, it is also very polished and almost certainly was executed by an adult. And so we see a small child fetching a giant heart-shaped valentine from a mailbox, a toddler stumbling off a chair, an older child trying to interest a baby in toys, and an older toddler climbing up and down a high chair. Each of these cards is fit for framing and hanging on a wall. Now disbound, there are three margin holes that… Read More

1881. Full Morocco. Fine. A richly illuminated Victorian manuscript notable for its great variety of ornamentation and done by a woman famous in her day. 4to. 28 by 24 cm. 59 leaves of heavy card, each with illumination. The illluminator, Edith Baird, was the "Queen of Chess" in her day. She wrote several books on chess problems, most notably, "Seven Hundred Chess Problems", Henry Sotheran, 1902, "The Twentieth Century Retractor", also Henry Sotheran, 1907. She was the daughter of a poet, Thomas Winter-Wood, who wrote under the name of "Vanguard" and who also was a chess master, as were two of Edith's brothers. The verse contained in this album do not bear titles. Edith Baird may have written some or all of the poems, but nothing definite can be said about their authorship. In addition to English, some verse is in German and French. While there are references to heaven and God, the poems are more spiritual than religious. Several of the leaves… Read More

1914(?)-1915/6. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo. 22.5 by 18 cm. 270 pp., almost all with one or more colorfully painted cartoons and caricatures depicting the early part of World War One, beginning in 1914 and possibly all the way through 1915. The album was made with a notebook with ruled lined paper. On most pages, the lines have been covered over, and are at most barely visible. One of the specific events alluded to is the sinking of the Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy by one German submarine, an event which occurred in September, 1914. The sinking of the Lusitania and chemical warfare are alluded to well into the album, which brings the album into the middle of 1915. It is possible the album runs into 1916 but not by much. The jingoistic, and non-subtle analysis manifest in the cartoons, does not give way to a weariness, a questioning, or disillusionment which would certainly have asserted itself later on in the war. The cover has a raised title, not fully legible anymore; from what can be made out,… Read More

Wraps. Marbled paper on card. . Very Good. N.d., circa 1852. Oblong 4to. 26 by 37 cm. Ten leaves, or 18 pp., with thirty different watercolors of armorial banners. The images are extraordinarily bright and beautiful; these paintings were by an accomplished, confident hand. The imagery is of three basic types: squarish banners held up by stylized animals, long triangular-ish armorial pennants, and armorial rectangular paintings that are not shown as part of a flag or banner. The presentation is chronological based on monarchs, beginning with Edward III and running to Henry VIII and his wives, Anne and Jane. The name of the particular monarch associated with an image is written in ink with a neat hand. The dating is based on a watermark, and the artist, on a pencil inscription.

Milano: G. Gnocchi. Printed by Fratelli Salmin of Padova, 1878. Full Decorated Morocco. Fine. A gorgeous decorative brown morocco binding of one the highpoints in the history of miniature book production! 55 by 40 mm. 500 pp. The two-point "flies' eyes" type used in the book was singled out by Spielman as "the smallest ever employed." Another piece of trivia relating to this book's production is that 30 pages took about a month to produce, and dealing with the miniscule type ened up hurting the eyesight of both the compositor and corrector, according to "Miniature Books: 4,000 Years of Tiny Treasures", issued by the Grolier Club. Spielmann 114. Bondy p. 95.

Berlin: Sporting Gallery von F. Otto Beyer. Very Good. Collection of 37 mounted colored illustrations, some colorized photos from life, others, copies of artwork, which would generally appear to be not photographic copies of the originals but rather looser painted copies of them. The subject matter, notwithstanding the title on the outer portfolio, is not just foxhunting, but also, horseracing, including steeple chasing. N.d., circa 1880. (Race horses shown are born in the mid-1870s, and one, a victor in the 1879 Norddeuschen Derby zu Hamburg in 1879). Outer case, 37 by 54 cm, plates, 36.5 by 53.5 cm. 23 plates relate to foxhunting, 14, to horseracing. The use of English, as in "Sporting Gallery", was not so much about selling to English tourists as much as a manifestation of the newly unified Germany's fascination and envy of English culture and more specifically, an attempt to capitalize on the German association of equestriana with England and a romanticization of this aspect of English… Read More

Vienna: Carl Fromme. Pebbled cloth. Very Good. N.d., circa 1900. Folio, 37 by 28 cm. 50 plates, many double paged. Striking catalog of all kinds of tin and metal and construction work, including imposing ovens, greenhouses, garden seating, door hardware, fences, banisters, fireplace accessories, etc. etc. Scarce, with a single institutional copy evidenced on OCLC First Search, held by the Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek.

London: George Allen, 1897 (parts 1894-1897). First edition. Three Quarters Crushed Morocco. Marbled pastedown. . Near Fine. One of 1,000 unnumbered sets printed. 4to. 27.5 by 22 cm. 19 parts bound in 6 volumes. Pictorial pink wrappers bound in. Plates, headpieces and tailpieces by Crane. Gilt rose and leaf pattern in four spine compartments, lettering in two.

Paris: Bernardin-Béchet, 1862. First edition. Quarter Calf. Marbled Boards. Very Good. Scarce. with only known copies, as shown on OCLC First Search, at the BNF. BNF has several editions, or years of issuance, with no indication that these copies have coloring. 1862 is their earliest copy, and the first edition. Segolene le Men, Les Abecedaires Francais Illustre, 172. Also no indication of coloring in Le Men. 12mo. 25 by 10 cm. 108 pp. With many hand-colored illustrations and vignettes. The ABC, or abecedaire, forms the core of the book, with each letter accompanies by a half-page hand-colored illustration of usually a profession but also a few of work-related terminology such as "Usine" or "Kilogramme". Also five pages of "Lettres Ornes", with hand-colored letter devices or decorative letters for each letter of the alphabet, and typical adjuncts to an abecedaire, such as a syllabary, a punctuation guide, etc. Following the abecedaire proper is a miscellany of fables, short moral… Read More

Japan. Wraps. Ribbon holding leaves in stab binding. . Very Good. Absolutely charming, often whimsical, playful, cute and/or amusing, collection of fan designs, many featuring children and with slightly naive artwork befitting the illustrations of a colorful children's book. N.d., circa 1930s, based on the fashions and one Olympic-themed design, as well as the few with a jingoistic tenor -- this was the period of rising Japanese expansionism. Slightly oblong or squarish, 23.5 by 25 cm. One text page, followed by 139 color plates, each with a fan design. 34 of the plates are brightly colored whimsical illustrations such as one might find in a children's book and of strong juvenile appeal, even when the subject matter doesn't include children. Other plates include more abstract and/or geometric designs, fish, insects, birds, views, A few of the designs incorporate photographs or illustrations created probably off of a photo. Most of the designs conform to the shape of a long single piece… Read More

New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. Printed by Rogers Kellogg Stillson Co., 1932. First edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Good Plus. Wonderful red, black and white illustrations, many full and/or double paged, by Alajalov, 4to. 33 by 25 cm. xi, 165 pp. Condition: book itself clean generally. Tiny stain on fore-edge, and light age toning. Minor scratching of velvet on boards. DJ with some edge and corner chips, and a few close tears. DJ now stabilized by mylar overlay. Losses on DJ relatively minor, and pictorial and lettering elements unaffected.