A Letterpress Printed Collection of 50 Love Poems
Illustrated with Wood Engravings

[Barbarian Press].
The Marriage of True Minds.
Mission, B.C. Barbarian Press, 2023.

One of 108 copies for sale. An additional 20 were hors commerce. This marvelous book is the 52nd book from the Barbarian Press. Its founders Crispin and Jan Elsted write: "We conceived this book as a celebration of our 50 years of marriage and our 45 years as Barbarians. It comprises fifty of our favourite love poems, reaching back to classical Greece and the Old Testament, and forward through the late Middle Ages, the renaissance, and the 18th and 19th centuries to the present day, by twenty-eight poets ranging from the writer(s) of The Song of Songs which is Solomon’s to lyrics by Sappho, to Chaucer, Spenser and Donne, Marvell, Clare, Christina Rossetti, Tennyson and Yeats, to contemporaries Jan Zwicky and Heather Simeney MacLeod, among many others – not forgetting the ubiquitous Anonymous, who contributes five. Eight of Shakespeare’s sonnets form a thematic spine throughout the book."

"We invited seven engravers who have illustrated our books over the years and have become part of our lives as friends and collaborators to contribute engravings to accompany poems of their choice: Richard Wagener engraved a stunning frontispiece block, while Abigail Rorer, Andy English, Simon Brett, Peter Lazarov, Walter Bachinski, and Graham Williams chose to illustrate poems that range from the Middle English to the contemporary. The type we have chosen for the book is Pastonchi, in its inaugural use here at the press – a graceful, elegant, but little-known face issued by Monotype in 1929, designed by the Italian poet Francesco Pastonchi with the typographer Eduardo Cotti to be used to print an edition of the Italian classics. We are fond of the face. Although it has never been widely used (especially in North America), and has occasionally been criticized by those who fail to respond to its openheartedness, we feel it is ideally suited to poetry, and are delighted to add it to our range of typefaces."

The book was designed by Crispin Elsted, who also designed the patterned paper for the binding. Jan Elsted printed the text and the engravings. Apollonia Elsted printed many of the title lines and the cover papers. Bound in half crimson morocco with paper covers at The Mad Hatter Bookbinding Company. Printed on Zerkall ENR White Smooth paper. Each copy is housed in a crimson cloth slipcase with a portfolio containing a suite of seven proofs of the engravings used for the book. In fine condition. Measures 7.25 inches x 10.5 inches. 88 numbered pages + 8 unnumbered pages. Fine. (#36793)

Price: $1,200

A Child's Love for His Teddy Bear
A Book of Papercuts & Poetry

Coron, Béatrice, book artist; Mick Stern, poetry.
My Teddy Bear.
New York: Béatrice Coron, 2003.

5 of 8 copies. A nostalgic poem about a child and their teddy bear, which is loved, battered, and constantly in need of repair. An excerpt: "I could not explain why I flung it at my bedroom wall, kicked it across the room, held it by one ear, and beat it against the bedpost, not from hatred, but ecstasy - the only time in my whole life, I have ever been free to love in my own way." Bound in orange cloth covered boards with ribbon closure and metal teddy bear charm. Illustrated with handcut papercuts on black paper, which are mounted on handmade paper with rose petal inclusions. Size: 14 x 4.5 inches (open); 4.5 x 4 inches (closed).

Mick Stern is an artist and writer living in New York City. Stern received a PhD in English Renaissance Literature from New York University. He has taught English at Rutgers and other colleges. For more than twenty years, he taught screenwriting at NYU’s film school. A book review said about him: "Mick Stern's poems are clever, deep and humorous, real treat to read."

French born Béatrice Coron is a renowned artist whose work includes book arts, fine art, and public art. Her work can be found in major museum collections, libraries, as well as private collections. Her books are fascinating creations made through cutting images in paper or Tyvek.

Christina Favretto, Head of Special Collections at the University of Miami describes her work in Coron's "artfragments" portfolio: "There is a palpable joy in the work of Béatrice Coron, the kind of joy we felt as children in unwrapping a particularly enticing holiday gift. But...for Béatrice the gift is a sheet of Tyvek...or paper, and the stories to be unearthed and unleashed within and through the medium." Fine. (#36866)

Price: $250.00  

Civil War Era Love Story - Featuring Cadets at West Point

Drille, Hearton.
Tactics; or, Cupid in Shoulder-Straps. A West Point Love Story.
New York: Carleton Publishers, 1864.

Originally printed in 1863, this is an early edition. A civil war era love story about cadets at West Point and their romantic entanglements. The main character Cadet Jack Hazard is in love with the daughter of a prominent politician, but her father won't allow her to marry as he feels a soldier is beneath her. An interesting look into cadet life at this military academy during this time period.

Very good- in the original brown cloth covered boards with gilt title to spine. Wear to exterior includes minor discoloration, bubbling to cloth in some areas and bumping to corners and spine ends. Wear and chipping to book cloth along corners and spine ends. Previous owner's name to front free end page. Light damp staining to bottom of first 30 pages. Minor foxing throughout. Page edges browning. (#8084)

Price: $35 

Beauty of the World & Possibility of Love ... in the Soviet Union circa 1960-80s
Letterpress Printed & Illustrated with Woodcuts

[Foolscap Press]
Makine, Andreï; Geoffrey Stachan (translator); Vladimir Zimakov (illustrator).
Brief Loves That Live Forever.
Santa Cruz: Foolscap Press, 2022.

Number 38 of 90 numbered copies for sale, signed by the author, translator, and illustrator. "A novel in eight chapters, each of which are distinct episodes in the life of the narrator. The chapters show us moments of supreme lucidity where the narrator is consciously alive to the beauty of the world and the possibility of love in its many aspects. The setting is the Brezhnev era in the Soviet Union where as the narrator states, love is in essence subversive.' The essence of this novel is how to move beyond recrimination of the past or even the promise of the future and to be consciously alive to the beauty around us, and to that possibility of love. Andreï Makine is an elegant stylist who allows us to witness these clear moments throughout this moving and thoughtful novel" (Foolscap Press).

The author, Andreï Makine, was born in Siberia in 1957, but has lived in France since 1987 where he was granted political asylum. He writes in French but has worked closely with Geoffrey Stachan to translate all of his novels into English. Both the author and translator have won major awards for their work. The illustrator, Vladimir Zimakov, is an art professor and director of the art gallery at Lasell University in Massachusetts. He has illustrated numerous books, specializing in limited editions.

Bound in gray cloth with red leather spine titled in grey. Includes eight full page color illustrations and eight vignettes. Designed, printed, and bound by Peggy Gotthold and Lawrence Van Velzer. Letterpress printed on Rives paper in Van Dijck type. Housed in a red cloth covered box with gilt and leather title label to spine. In fine condition. Size: 9.75 x 13.5 inches. 103 pages. (#36078)

Price: $1,500

Many Poems on Love, Live, and Beauty
Illustrated by Eric Gill
Letterpress Printed

[Golden Cockerel Press]
Clay, Enid, poet; Eric Gill, illustrator.
The Constant Mistress.
London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1934.

Number 64 of 300 copies, signed by both Enid Clay and Eric Gill. This book was published to be uniform with Clay's Sonnets and Verses, published by the press in 1925. From Roderick Cave's History of The Golden Cockerel Press: "Were it not for his sister Enid Clay, Eric Gill might not ever have been tempted to work with Robert Gibbings. Gibbings had approached Gill in late 1924 with an offer of work as an artist for his newly procured Golden Cockerel Press, but Gill refused on the ground that the press was not Catholic. Their acquaintance might have ended there, but as it happened Gill’s sister was in want of a publisher for her first book. Gibbings volunteered to take her on, and Gill was induced to be her illustrator. Following Gill’s temporary refusal, Enid Clay’s Sonnets and Verses (1925) became the first Golden Cockerel publication he was to illustrate. It was the beginning of a prolific seven-year partnership."

This second book of Enid Clay's poetry is elegantly printed in Caslon O.F. type on Batchelor handmade paper with a hammer and anvil watermark. There are six wood engravings by Gill including the title page. Bound in green paper boards with a cream linen spine and paper spine label. Boards are faded along edges, as is frequently the case. Interior pages are clean and bright, with evidence of a bookseller ticket having been removed from the rear pastedown. The top edge is trimmed with the other edges untrimmed. A nice copy in very good condition. Measures 6 x 8.5 inches. 44 pages. See Gill Bibliography 293. Very Good. (#36757)

Price: $400

Many Poems on Love, Live, and Beauty
Provocative Illustrations by Eric Gill
Letterpress Printed

[Golden Cockerel Press]
Clay, Enid, poet; Eric Gill, illustrator.
Sonnets and Verses.
Waltham St. Lawrence, Berkshire: Golden Cockerel Press, 1925.

Number 294 of 450 copies. [From Roderick Cave's History of The Golden Cockerel Press] "Were it not for his sister Enid Clay, Eric Gill might not ever have been tempted to work with Robert Gibbings. Gibbings had approached Gill in late 1924 with an offer of work as an artist for his newly procured Golden Cockerel Press, but Gill refused on the ground that the press was not Catholic. Their acquaintance might have ended there, but as it happened Gill’s sister was in want of a publisher for her first book. Gibbings volunteered to take her on, and Gill was induced to be her illustrator. Following Gill’s temporary refusal, Enid Clay’s Sonnets and Verses (1925) became the first Golden Cockerel publication he was to illustrate. It was the beginning of a prolific seven-year partnership. The illustrations for his sister’s book are largely a continuation of the ones he had produced for St Dominic’s Press. In contrast to those seen in later publications, Gill’s nudes are white-on-black and lack the strong lines that characterize most of his engravings. Their Art Deco undertones render them barely distinguishable from similar illustrations of the period. As for their physical relationship to the text it is nonexistent, with none of the illustrations connecting particularly to the next."

A handsome book from the famed Golden Cockerel Press. Bound in blue paper covers with light brown linen spine with paper title label. Book is lightly worn with fading to top edges, darkening to spine, and crease and tiny chip to the spine label. Interior pages are generally clean and bright with light darkening to edge of front pastedown and evidence of a label or bookseller ticket removed from rear pastedown. Top edge trimmed but fore-edge and bottom edge untrimmed. With eight full and partial page illustrations including the title page by Eric Gill. Very good condition. Measures 6 x 9 inches. 35 pages. (#36756)

Price: $350 

Hand Calligraphed Manuscript in Fine Full Leather Binding
Passages on Love from Corinthians

Grebenstein, Maryanne.
Love Never Ends.
Hingham, MA: Maryanne Grebenstein, 2012.

Features text from a biblical verse. Taking inspiration from a 15th century manuscript, calligrapher Maryanne Grebenstein has created an unique book that has been lettered, decorated, gilded, and bound by hand. Using the same materials and techniques employed by scribes for centuries, Grebenstein carefully letters each word, uses raised 23K gold leaf, and hand paints each border decoration. The page proportions are kept to the traditional ratio, utilizing the centuries old ‘gold rule’ established during the Renaissance. Each page has a similar but not identical border design, following the design principal utilized in the prayer book. Written on Zerkall ingres paper. Beautifully bound by Samuel Feinstein in full blue Niger Oasis goatskin with gilt title to spine and front cover. The front cover features a rose onlay in red and green leather. A gilt stamp of the rose appears on the rear cover. Marbled endpapers by Cockerell Marblers. Signed by the artist and binder. Measures 9.5 inches x 13 inches.

Calligrapher and book artist Maryanne Grebenstein (Marblehead, MA) founded The Abbey Studio, which offers professional calligraphy services and classes, and also Turn-in-the-Path Books which produces unique and limited edition books and broadsides. Maryanne teaches at the North Bennet Street School in Boston and is a Visiting Artist at the Corcoran College of Art+Design in Washington, DC. Fine. (#25802)

Price: $6,500 

WWI Thriller and Romance

Grey, Zane.
The Desert of Wheat.
New York: Grosset and Dunlap, (1919).

Early reprint. Illustrated by W.H.D. Koerner. A thrilling and romantic World War I novel set in the Pacific Northwest. From the jacket: "A vigorous story of a man's fight to purge his blood of a hated taint and his war against the I.W.W's, who ruin his wheat harvest. The farmers of the great Northwest, after their wheat fields have been destroyed by the unscrupulous methods of the Bolshevists, band together to wipe out this menace under the leadership of Kurt Dorn. How he wins to victory, sustained and encourage by a great love, makes a very effective tale." It's not all war and revenge though, as there is a love story mixed in.

Near fine in brown cloth boards with dark green title to spine. Slight bump to top corner of front board and to edge of front board. Interior is very clean and bright. In original color illustrated dust jacket with faded orange title to spine panel. Slight rubbing to spine panel of jacket and slight wear to edges of jacket. 377 pages.  (#21047)

Price: $35 

Scandalous for the Time Period - A Woman Leaves Her Husband and Has an Affair with Another Man (1890s New Woman Romance)

Hobbes, John Oliver [Pearl Craigie or Pearl Mary Teresa Richards].
The Serious Wooing: A Heart's History.
New York: Frederick Stokes, 1901.

Anglo-American novelist and playwright, Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie (1867- 1906), wrote under the pseudonym John Oliver Hobbes. A new woman novel in which the main character is separated from her husband and finds romance with another man.

Second edition. Ex-libris with library stamp to bottom of title page. 8vo. Very good minus in blue cloth covered boards with gilt title to spine. A few small spots of discoloration to front board. Minor fading to spine and minor bumping to corners. Minor browning to end pages and library stamp to bottom corner of title page. Else is clean and bright. 270 pages.  (#8613)

Price: $30 

Three Poetry Collections Bound Together -
Featuring Many Poems of Love and Loss

Hope, Laurence (Violet Nicolson)
Indian Love, Stars of the Desert, The Garden of Kama.
London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.

Later edition of this classic, finely bound with Stars of the Desert and The Garden of Kama. These popular volumes of lyric poetry were written by Adele Florence Nicolson using the pseudonym of Laurence Hope. In 1900, Adela Nicolson, who also used the name Violet Nicolson, began to publish her poetry under the pseudonym Laurence Hope. Hope’s formal verse, steeped in the Indian landscape and Sufi symbolism, often assumes the voices of Indian dancers and slaves to engage themes of passionate love and loss. Her first collection, The Garden of Kama (1901), was initially presented as a translation and arrangement, rather than the original poetry it was later revealed to be. In 1904 her husband died during a medical operation; two months later, at the age of 39, she committed suicide with poison [Poetry Foundation].

Beautifully bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in dark red leather with gilt rulings to covers. Spine with gilt decorations and author and title labels to six compartments with raised bands. Some light chipping to spine hinges but very good. All edges gilt. With gilt dentelles and lovely patterned endpapers. Interior pages are also very good, with frontispiece portrait of author. Octavo volume. Indian Love: 92 pages; Stars of the Desert: 152 pages; The Garden of Kama: 174 pages. Very Good. (#35503)

Price: $90

Unique Artists' Book on Lost Love

J.B. [John C. Barney, Jr.].
Book of Nefertiti.
New York: n.p, circa 1991-1992.

A unique mysterious and deeply personal artist's book by an unknown man mourning the loss of the love of his life. The author has filled this work with his poetry, profile images of Nefertiti, collage, applied color and designs and more. The texts and images are mounted and framed on multi-colored matte boards. Bound in black cloth covered boards painted with swaths of orange color with title in purple on front cover. This fascinating book on love and grief measures 10.75 x 13.25 x 2.75 inches. It is heavy in both emotion and actual weight (extra shipping required). In fine condition. (#33866)

Price: $1,200 

Passionate Poems of Love, Love Lost, and Hate
Deluxe Edition Signed by the 16 Living Poets

[Littoral Press]
Rappoport, Lisa, editor, contributor, and book artist.
A Flame in the Heart. A Love/Hate Anthology.
Oakland CA: Littoral Press, 2002.

Number 6 of 125 copies. This is one of the ten copies from the Deluxe Edition that are signed on the colophon by sixteen of the seventeen contributors to this poetry and prose anthology (alas, not Frida Kahlo). They include Ahimsa Timoteo Bodhran, Claribel Cone, Martha Gies, Robert Hass. Steve Hellman, Marie Howe, Frida Kahlo, Vickie Karp, Stephen Kessler, Rachel Loden, Jane Miller, Janell Moon, Sharon Olds, Lisa Rappoport, Mark Salerno, Joseph Stroud, and Gary Young. Rappoport writes that this book "is dedicated to those we love with a blazing passion, to those we hope will burn in hell, and ideally, to the future separation of the two." She has been a book artist for almost twenty years and her books can be found in many institutional collections.

This beautiful accordion book is bound in red and black Thai Unryl reversible paper with a black title label to front cover. Printed with handset Garamond type on Johannot paper with black and blood-red ink. Each volume has unique pastepaper endpapers. With title page drawing of a heart in flames by Bobbe Besold. The book is 11 x 7 folded and 18 feet long unfolded. In fine condition. Unpaginated. [25 pages]  (#28037)

Price: $500 

Collection of William Morris's Poetry - Including Romantic Tales
Illustrated by Jessie M. King

Morris, William.
The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems.
London: John Lane and the Bodley Head Ltd.

A lovely edition of William Morris's poems. In addition to the title poem, this romantic collection of 30 works includes King Arthur’s Tomb, Rapunzel, and Old Love. The exquisite black and white illustrations throughout exemplify Jessie M. King’s (1875-1949) imaginative and mysterious style of art. King was one of the foremost artists of the Glasgow school, active at the turn of the century.

An anomaly - the illustration facing page 18 is the same as that facing page 22. The illustration listed for page 22 is not present. There is a beautiful King cover illustration in gilt, as well as lovely headpieces, and tailpieces throughout. Binding is bright red with very slight bumping to spine and book corners. Very light foxing to front and rear end papers but interior is bright and clean. Very good plus condition. 310 pages. Very Good+. (#35508)

Price: $700 

Print from Cupid and Psyche - by Edward Burne-Jones

Morris, William; Edward Burne-Jones.
The Story of Cupid and Psyche: Psyche by the Bed. PRINT.
London: Clover Hill Editions at the Rampart Lions Press, 1974.

A print of Burne-Jones’s illustration, which was originally designed to accompany The Story of Cupid and Psyche in a Kelmscott version of Morris’s The Earthly Paradise. The book was never completed. The original woodblocks, carved mostly by William Morris, were left to the Society of Antiquaries after his death. The blocks were “rediscovered” in the 1960s, and in 1974, the Rampant Lions Press published an edition of the work using them. This engraving was printed from those original wood blocks. The book and prints were in a limited edition of 100. A separate cloth box housed 44 loose prints. Paper size: 13 x 9 inches. Image size: 4 x 2 inches. Fine. (#30558)

Price: $75

Homosexual Unrequited Love Story from an English 1590s Poem
Letterpress Printed and Beautifully Illustrated
Contextualizing Introductory Essay

[Old Stile Press]
Barnfield, Richard; illustrated by Clive Hicks-Jenkins; Dr. Peter Wakelin, essay.
The Affectionate Shepheard.
Monmouth shire UK: The Old Stile Press, 1998.

Number 160 of 200 copies. Signed by the artist and essayist. From the Press: "When 'The Affectionate Shepheard' was first published, in London in 1594, its author was 20 years of age and immediately became a celebrity -- although he ceased to write six years later. In the centuries since, however, both poem and poet have largely disappeared from sight. Printings have been few and this one is thought to be the very first to be accompanied by images. The poem followed the rich tradition of pastoral poetry and was influenced especially by the second Eclogue of Vergil, taking unrequited love as its theme and, as its subject, the love of a shepherd, Daphnis, for the young man, Corydon. An essay, putting the work fascinatingly in its historical and literary context, has been specially written by Dr. Peter Wakelin for inclusion in this edition. If the poem is an unusual and worthwhile rediscovery, so is the printmaking technique employed by Clive Hicks-Jenkins. Involving glass and a layer of pigment, it is more akin to line engraving on, say, metal than to any form of drawing. This publication is also remarkable for being the first of our books to be printed entirely on paper handmade by Frances McDowall at The Old Stile Press." Printed in Bulmer types on McDowall's handmade paper. Illustrations on each page produced from autographic relief images using a variant form of cliché verre.

Bound in vegetable parchment hand toned by the printer, illustrated on both covers with outline designs printed in grey, black spine titling. Special endpapers handmade by Frances McDowall. Foxing to some pages. Housed in a folding slipcase covered in burnt orange cloth, lined with blue Ingres paper. Octavo in near fine condition. 58 pages. Near Fine. (#29413)

Price: $260 

Risque (for the times) Love Story
Wonderful Cover Illustration of a Nude Woman Reading

Platt, William.
Love Triumphant.
London: Charles Hirsch, 1896.

First Edition of an uncommon work. A curious book, it was one of two legitimate novels published by Charles Hirsch, a London bookseller and publisher known for distributing clandestine works. William Platt was a peculiar 1890s writer whose works concerned the role of the sexes and often leaned toward the risque. In keeping with this, the cover has an illustration in gilt of a nude woman reading a book.

In original cream cloth, somewhat rubbed and bumped. Interior pages have browning to margins, offsetting to free endpapers with chip to rear free endpaper. Still a nice copy in very good condition. 222 pages plus ad for music by William Platt and 16 pages of reviews of Platt's Men, Women, and Chance. Very Good. (#26753)

Price: $200 

Song of Songs - An Erotic Biblical Passage
Letterpress Printed

[Quarles, Francis]
Sions Sonets. Sung by Soloman the King and Periphras'd by Francis Quarles. [Song of Songs or Song of Soloman].
Cambridge: Riverside Press for Houghton Mifflin, 1905.

Number 12 of 430 copies. This is a fine press edition of the Song of Songs as published in 1680 by Quarles in his Divine Poems. The Song of Songs is an erotic poem that celebrates sexual intimacy and love. In Christianity it is read as an allegory of Christ and the Church (his bride).

Below is the first part of Bride: Sonnet I:

"O that the bounty of those lips Divine
Would seal their favours on these lips of mine,
That by those welcome *kisses, I might see
The mutual love betwixt my Love and me!
For truer bliss no worldly joy allows,
Than sacred Kisses from so sweet a Spouse,
With which no earthly pleasure may compare,
Rich Wines are not so delicate as they 're"

Very good in original red cloth boards with gilt title to spine. Fading to spine and a few markings to front cover. Printed on laid paper with untrimmed edges. Pages remain unopened. A small book, about the size of a postcard. 125 pages. Very Good. (#26732)

Price: $60

Poetry Collection Filled with Love Poems by D.G. Rossetti
Inscribed from Rossetti to the Artist, Arthur Hughes

Rossetti, Dante Gabriel.
Poems.
London: F.S.Ellis, 1870.

A fine association copy inscribed to Arthur Hughes from Rossetti. The inscription reads: “To Arthur Hughes, from his friend, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, April 1870.” These men were two of the most important artists of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. This is one of only a few copies personally inscribed to Rossetti’s close friends (see D.G.R. Letters to Publishers).

A collection of Rossetti's poetry including many poems about love such as The Blessed Damozel, Love's Nocturn, Love's Redemption, The Kiss, The Love-Letter, A Day of Love, and Love's Baubles. With over 100 poems, many additional topics are addressed such as dreams, time, classical figures, the seasons, death, and the loss of a child. English painter, illustrator, and author Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1829 - 1862) had love affairs with many women including models for his paintings. He married his favorite model, Elizabeth Siddal, but before two years had passed, she died due to a laudanum overdose after the stillbirth of their child. Many of the poems included within were no doubt written about her.

Bound in dark green cloth boards with gilt title to spine. Attractive gilt floral decoration by Rossetti to spine and boards. Minor wear to edges and slight discoloration to boards. Clean, bright interior with decorative end pages and a tight binding. Housed in a black cloth covered clamshell box with gilt label to spine. 282 pages plus 4 pages of advertisements. Very Good condition.  (#18822)

Price: $3,800 

Scarce Poetry Collection with Many Poems on Love, Lost Love, and Grief
Rutledge Was the First Poet Laureate from South Carolina

Rutledge, Archibald.
The Sonnets of Archibald Rutledge.
self published (Archibald Rutledge), 1938.

Scarce. Signed by the author on title page. American poet, Archibald Rutledge (1883 - 1973) was the first poet laureate from South Carolina. He wrote over 50 books and numerous poems, mostly about his life and experiences in South Carolina. Written between world wars, this collection of sonnets addresses many universal themes including love, love lost, war, peace, dreams, astronomy, death, and loss. Many of the love poems are somber and were likely written for his late wife Florence, who bore him three children and passed in 1936 - two years before this collection was issued. One such poem is below:

"Forever
How often, on the wings that love had lent,
I sped to meet and hold her to my heart.
And all my constancy was my intent
Swiftly to join her .. "Could we never part,
'Twould be my heaven." Often said she so.
And oft would I delay, in hope I might
Meet her, or here or there, whence we could go
Together laughing in our old delight.

Nor hasting now and now delay no more
Brings me to her, or brings my Love to me.
Yet death has made our comradeship secure,
From every fear of parting set us free:
Lovers upon an everlasting shore,
By the still waters of eternity"

Bound in the original brown suede flexible covers with black title to front cover. Stapled binding. Minor chipping to edges of covers and creasing to top corners. Clean and bright. 39 pages. Very Good. (#31355)

Price: $300 

An (Nearly Miniature) Artists' Book with Love Poems by Laurence Hope

Schwartzott, Carol, book artist; Laurence Hope (poems).
India's Love Lyrics.
Freeville, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 2021.

Number 20 of 25 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. A collection of seven love poems originally from the book "India's Love Lyrics" compiled and translated by Laurence Hope. It includes the original illustrations that have been reworked from Carol's earlier book, "King Zada's Song" (1995). The interior of the book "follows a simple flutter style / accordion format, with each of the six hand-cut arched windows folding out to create tiny theaters displaying illustrations reminiscent of classic Indian miniatures" (artist statement).

Bound in paper covered boards with title label to front cover. Digitally printed on Mohawk Superfine Vellum with additions of hand coloring. Housed in a handmade box covered in a variety of papers with title label to spine panel. In fine condition. Measures 3 x 2 inches in a box that is 4.25 x 2.5 inches. Unpaginated. [46 pages.] (#36576)

Price: $95 

A Mayan Book of Love - in English and Tzotzil
Silkscreened on Handmade Paper

[Taller Leñateros]
Robert M. Laughlin.
Mayan Hearts.
Chiapas, Mexico: Taller Leñateros, 2003.

Second Edition. Number 19 of 500 copies. Signed by the Author. Taller Lenateros, or The Woodlanders' Workshop, is a community of Mayan artists who produce handmade paper, artists' books, silkscreen and wood block prints, pansey graphs, natural dyes, and magic spells. The society was founded in 1975 by poet Ambar Past, and continues to flourish while offering training and employment to men and women who have no education and no career. Inspiration for many of the projects comes from dreams, nature, and Mayan history and tradition. Robert M. Laughlin is an anthropologist from the Smithsonian in Washington, DC who studied Chiapas for over 40 years.

Bound in handmade black paper covered boards with heart cut out to front board. The cover paper was made by the Mayans from maguey and mistletoe fibers. Silkscreened text and images relating to matters of the heart in English with some text also in Mayan (Tzotzil). Includes a heart volvelle and a few folded inclusions. a few small smudge marks to interior (possibly created during the printing process), but bright and clean overall. Oblong quarto. Very Good. (#37015)

Price: $200

Love Story Between Aminta and the Nymph Silvia
A Play in Italian from 1725 (based on original 1573 version)

Tasso, Torquato.
Aminta. Favola Boschereccia.
Napoli [Naples]: Felice Mosca, 1725.

Aminta is a play written by Torquato Tasso in 1573, represented during a garden party at the court of Ferrara. Both the actors and the public were noble persons living at the Court, who could understand subtle allusions the poet made to that style of life, in contrast with the life of shepherds, represented in an idyllic way. The story is about Aminta's love for the beautiful nymph Silvia, who does not return his attentions and prefers hunting. She risks rape at the hands of a Satyr but Aminta saves her; however, again she flees from him. Aminta, finding her blood-stained veil, attempts to kill himself. Now Silvia is remorseful, comes back to cry over Aminta's body who is still alive, and the two can happily marry, following the advice that older and wiser friends had been giving them. [Wikipedia].

Bound in full vellum with what appears to be a library accession sticker to spine. Text block is almost detached from binding but still holding. The vellum is quite soiled, bumped, and rubbed. Pastedowns are torn as is front free endpaper. Browning and spotting throughout. With four unattributed wood engravings. Despite just good condition this is an interesting edition of this classic work by Tasso. In Italian. Measures 4.5 x 3.75 inches 96 pages. Good. (#36919)

Price: $90 

A Collection of Love Poems ... Written to Mock the Love Poetry Genre
Funny and Brash - but Enjoyable to Read

Thomson, Roddy and Colin Lowe.
When I'm on the table saw at work, I grieve for you my love (Northern Love Poems).
(London): Sadie Coles HQ, (1997).

Number 29 of 50 copies. Signed by both authors on title page in pencil. A collection of fifty love poems by English artists Thomson (1966) and Lowe (1967), who are known best for their humorous and sometimes offensive installations pieces. Their work often involves recreating elements from historical artworks by using everyday objects such as cigarettes or whiskey bottles to make statements about popular English culture. Fitting with their visual art, these poems are terse, crude, and very funny. They poke fun at the seriousness of the love poetry genre with verses like:

"I can count
the fingers
on one hand
of women I've loved,
but after that incident
with the bandsaw
at work,
I'm afraid,
you're no longer
one of them"

and

"In the dark,
afraid that you've disappeared
and gone away
I punch the bed clothes,
but for some unknown reason
this time you stayed"

and

"I avoided you like the plague,
but like the black death
Quarantine came too late.
You were back on the train
to Bristol, with that bloke
you call the 'dark issue.'
I was left with your bolemic
brother and my own
biological crisp factory.
I put the horse
I called your arse
before my cart
and rode to Jerusalem
with the duvet of death."

The poems are printed in black ink on fine laid paper and are housed in a black paper covered box titled in silver on the front panel. Unpaginated. [51 pages.] Fine. (#27692)

Price: $350 

Includes 60 Authentic (Antique) Victorian Pieces of Ephemera
Unique - Created by Binder & Artist Robert Wu

Wu, Robert.
Victorian Ephemera Album.
Toronto: Studio Robert Wu, 2021.

A unique artist's book by Robert Wu, the talented Canadian bookbinder, paper marbler, and stationer. This frothy confection is a testament to Robert's love of Victorian art, decoration, and sentiment. It is signed and dated by him. He has created by hand an album of ephemera using 60 authentic samples of Victorian calling cards, autograph verses, postcards, and photographs from his personal collection. The antique postcards were purchased by Robert at the famed Marché aux Puces in Paris. He has incorporated die cut ornaments of flowers, butterflies and birds, along with decorated papers, ink stamps, postage stamps, and paper cutouts. The album has a section for each category of samples with Robert's calligraphic titles for each section. He also wrote copies of some Victorian verse by hand. The album's covers give a preview of its contents, with decorated papers, an ornate Victorian fan, flowers, and birds. A braided white ribbon decorates the spine and its ends serve as ribbons to tie around the book. The album resides in plain white box with "Victorian Scrap Album" written on a brown label to the cover. A delightful creation in fine condition. Measures 5.5 x 7 inches. Unpaginated [about 40 pages]  (#36449)

Price: $875.00  

Romantic Victorian Style Folding Fan

Wu, Robert; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (quote).
Victorian Folding Fan Quotation Book.
Toronto: Studio Robert Wu, 2021.

Part of a small unnumbered edition. A sweet handmade folding Victorian style fan with the handwritten text: "Kind hearts are gardens. Kind thoughts are roots. Kind words are flowers. Kind deeds are fruits. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow."

The fan is die-cut from stiff blue paper and edged in gilt with full color floral Victorian cutouts on each page. The floral piece on the front of the fan is a pop up. A blue tassle adorns the clip on the back edge of the fan. The back of the fan is covered in green pastepaper with flecks of gold, which was made by the artist. [5 pages.] Size of fan: about 4.25 x 2 inches. Housed in a white paper covered gift box with handtitled brown paper label to top.

Wu trained at the American Academy of Bookbinding (AAB) in Colorado with Monique Lallier and at the Canadian Bookbinders and Bookartists Guild (CBBAG) in Toronto. He was the recipient of the first ever Tini Miura scholarship for the study of fine binding at the AAB and later studied privately with master binder Miura in California. His work has been included in numerous exhibitions and can be found in several notable collections including Harvard University. Fine. (#35465)

Price: $55