Search Results: Art, Architecture, Photography from Lux Libri

Winchester, Mass.: Lee Art Gallery, [2005.] Brief introductory text by Mack Lee. Gallery catalog of b&w photographs from the heartland during the Depression era to the 1950s. Compelling images of rural Americana by Dorothea Lange, Wright Morris, Walker Evans, Gordon Parks, Edward Weston and others. 26 pages, (25 of them with captioned photos.) Oblong paperbound format. 6 x 8 inches. Price list laid into the rear of the book. Near Fine condition. Clean and securely bound. Scarce.

Braunschweig: Waisenhaus-Buchdruckerei und Verlag, 1956. ***Signed presentation copy given to the first United States ambassador to West Germany. An illustrated book on the art and craft treasures of the historic city of Braunschweig, Germany. 104 pp. German text with 43 photographs in b&w. Quarto hardcover in dust jacket. 10 by 7.75 inches. VG with moderate wear. Sound, tight binding. With calligraphy inscription in German to the US ambassador on his visit in November 1956. Not personalized but the recipient was James Bryant Conant, a former Harvard president who was ambassador to West Germany from 1955-1957 in the early Cold War era. Inscription roughly translates: To His Excellency the Ambassador of the United States in greeting on the occasion of the visit. Signed by Otto Benneman, then the mayor of Braunschweig, and Dr. Erich Walter Lotz, the city manager. Round ink stamp of Stadt Braunschweig. (Found in New England with other books from the personal library of James Bryant Conant, 1893-1978.)

Milan: Royal Brera Gallery, (c. 1933.) English language edition. An illustrated guide to the collections of the Royal Brera Gallery in Milan. Floor plan, artist biographies, painting dates, dimensions, etc. 199 pp., with index + 48 sepia-tone plates of paintings. Paperbound with self-attached jacket. Color pastedown cover illustration. 12mo. VG. Clean and securely bound. Two old laid-in entry-tickets for Museo Civico Citta di San Gimignano.

Paris: Henri Laurens, 1926. Short Monographs of the Great Edifices series. English language edition. A concise history of how Chartres was built and transformed by art over many centuries. 38 photos and other illustrations, including two double-page plans of the cathedral, one of them in color. 92 pages, with list of ancient architects, list of illustrations and index. 12mo hardcover. Rebound in sturdy blue library cloth for the private Holton-Arms School [formerly of Washington, DC, and relocated to Bethesda, MD, in 1963.] Holton-Arms bookplate inside the front cover, a few cataloging numbers but no other library markings. Original paper wraps bound in. Good condition. Text pages age-toned. Some external wear and rubbing, but sound and securely bound.

Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, 1941. A big, impressive volume in a custom binding. A collection of 304 full-page photographs of German architecture and landscapes in the interval between the world wars. Taken in the 1920s by German travel photographer Kurt Hielscher (1881-1948.) Printed in sepia tone and captioned in the lower margins. (Some captions in German only, but others with translations in English, French, Spanish, and Italian.) xiii, (1) + the 304 pages of photos. Index of names and places. Brief introduction by Hielscher in German, a b&w map of Germany, and a facsimile of a handwritten letter by German painter Hans Thoma before his death in 1924. Also, a color map of Germany in 1940 is laid into the front of the book. Folded into quarters, with old tape reinforcements at the folds. A large volume. 12 by 9 inches. Handsomely rebound in smooth green cloth with raised spine bands and gilt lettering. VG with light wear, very small bump to lower rear corner. Sound, tight binding. Clean internally,… Read More

Introduction by Miriam Tal in Hebrew and English. Printed in 1979. Place not stated, but probably Israel. A scarce catalog of early work by Israeli sculptor Doron Elia (born 1955.) Portfolio format with an outer folder containing the introductory text and 12 individual b&w photographic plates. Folder measures 9.75 by 7 inches. Photograph of the artist on the inner flap. VG with some edge wear to the folder. Plates clean and unmarked. No creasing, tears or other flaws. Evidently produced in a very small printing. WorldCat locates one copy. [Subjects: Modern art; Contemporary Israeli art and artists; Judaica.]

Leipzig: J.G. Schelter & Giesecke, 1923. 1st edition. Limited to 500 copies on handmade paper. This is number 412. Three letters from Leipzig artists to Daniel Chodowiecki, 1726-1801, Polish painter and printmaker who spent most of his life in Germany. The letters are from Johann Friedrich Bause, Christian Gottlieb Geyser, and Johann Georg Penzel. Text is in German and printed in a font that simulates handwriting. 32 pages. Three small tipped-in color plates of work by Chodowiecki. Color text vignettes and decoration. Slender hardcover, 10 x 6.5 inches. Fine binding of half leather (spine and corners) and marbled paper boards. Good with moderate wear, short cracks of the front inner hinge. Sound and securely bound. Joint bookplate of noted collectors Karl and Thilde Wagner on the front pastedown.

NY: Charles Scribner's Sons and London: B.T. Batsford, 1943. 2nd edition, revised. (First published in 1939.) A study of the "life and work" of abbeys in the Middle Ages. Color frontispiece and b&w illustrations throughout, including two fold-out plans. xiv, 114 pp. Clothbound 8vo. VG/VG. Sound, tight binding. Lower front corner bumped. Some foxing of the color dust jacket and edges of the text block, but clean internally. Jacket designed by Brian Cook. Price-clipped with modest chipping. Now protected by a clear archival cover.

Self-published artist's book issued in 2011. Place not stated. Limited 1st edition. Signed by Mich Maroney in pencil on the rear pastedown and numbered 3 of 200 copies. A series of photographs inspired by Medieval books of hours. Taken on the Spring Equinox at Little Dodnash, a sheep farm in Suffolk, England that was the site of an Augustinian priory dating to the 12th century. (38) unnumbered pages. Photographs accompanied by a poem from Rilke's Stundenbuch (Book of Hours) and an extract from Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England. Color map of Dodnash and environs. Pictorial quarto hardcover, 10x8 inches. Not issued with a jacket. A lovely book in Near Fine condition.

[Hanover, NH: Studio Art Exhibition Program, Dartmouth College, 2016.] 1st edition. Catalog of a 2016 Dartmouth exhibition by Eric van Hove (b. 1975), a Belgian conceptual artist born in Algeria, North Africa. Outer folder (12 x 9.5 inches) encloses an accordion-style foldout that measures more than 6 feet in length. One side is a panoramic color photograph of van Hove's intricate sculpture V12 Laraki, a mixed-media replica of a Mercedes Benz 6.2 L V12 engine. Created in collaboration with Moroccan craftsmen working in traditional materials, including wood, copper, silver, bone, leather and mother of pearl. The reverse side contains the text of an interview, entitled "Sculpture from a third dimension: V12 Laraki project, Utopia, and Ethics of artistic practice: Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi in conversation with Eric van Hove." An homage by van Hove to modern engineering and time-honored craft traditions. Inspired by Abdeslam Laraki the noted Moroccan high-performance automobile designer. Fine, flawless… Read More

London: Sampson Low, Marston Searle & Rivington, 1890. Slender clothbound hardcover. 100 pp., with index. VG with moderate wear and signs of age. Brief biographies of early Renaissance artists Ghiberti and Donatello, along with material on other Italian sculptors of the Pisan and Florentine schools. Nicely illustrated by b&w illustrations. One fold-out plate of The Second Door of the Baptistery, Florence, by Ghiberti. Small prior owner signature to the half-title page, but otherwise unmarked. Sound binding.

Translated by Prof. W.E. Walz. London: B.T. Batsford, Ltd., (1929.) 1st edition in the scarce slipcase. Printed in Germany. Text is in English. A big, beautiful book containing 80 color plates of interior views of German castles and private houses. Six-page introduction by the German art historian Adolf Feulner (1884-1945.) The remainder of the book consists of views of "interiors such as were found in former centuries in the castles, manor-houses and mansions of noblemen and patricians." The plates were reproduced from original paintings and printed one side only on thick, glossy paper. Each plate is captioned with the location, artist name, and brief explanatory notes. A superbly produced book that provides a rich visual representation of European interior design and ornamentation from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries in styles that include Baroque, Rococo, and Neo-Classical. xii pages + the 80 leaves of plates. Large clothbound hardcover, 11.75 by 9.25 inches. Green cloth with black title panels… Read More

(NY): Harry N. Abrams, Inc., (2003.) Signed/inscribed 1st edition, 1st printing. VG in VG dust jacket. A lively non-fiction account of an art dealer's long quest to own an original painting by Andy Warhol. An illuminating view of the art world and the interplay of artists, collectors, galleries, auction houses, etc. 256 pages with index and appendix of Warhol values. Hardcover, 9.25 by 6.25 inches. Lower book corners lightly bumped. Some rubbing to DJ but no tears or other flaws. No owner signatures or bookplates. DJ protected by a clear archival cover.

(Madrid): Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, (1984). An illustrated exhibition catalog. With 140 b&w reproductions of work by Spanish artists from the 18th and 19th centuries. Introductory essay by Enrique Lafuente Ferrari and catalog entries by Juan Carrere Parrondo. All text is in Spanish. 142 pages. Quarto, 24.5 cm. Glossy printed wraps. VG+ with minor edge wear. (Subjects: Goya, Francisco, 1746-1828; Prints, Spanish, 18th and 19th century; Prints -- Spain -- Madrid.)

Original studio portrait by the noted Japanese art and commercial photographer, an important figure in the transition from pictorialism to modern photography in Japan. Full-length B&W portrait of a young woman in kimono with obi. Subject and date unknown, but evidently from the post-war era (circa 1940s to 1960s.) In the original folder from Ogawa Gesshu's studio. His name is stamped in silver lettering on the front cover and embossed on the inner mount. Lower left margin of photo with embossed stamp: G. Ogawa / Osaka. Folder measures 9 by 11 inches. Stiff tan covers with protective inner tissue guard. Photograph is 6 by 8.5 inches, including white borders. (Image size: 5 by 7 inches.) Upper edge of photo tipped to the mount. Minor wear to the folder and slight creasing of the tissue guard. Photo is Fine. A scarce example of a portrait from Ogawa Gesshu's studio.

Self-published in 2008. Printed in Lewiston, Maine. 1st edition of [1,500 copies.] A collaboration by two sisters. Poems by Jasmine Lamb and several paintings in color by Rosy Lamb, an expatriate artist who lives and works in Paris. Signed and inscribed by Jasmine Lamb in 2013. Unpaginated. (40 pp.) Paperbound with stiff glossy covers. 8.25 x 8.25 inches. Near Fine condition. Clean and unmarked.

Signed wood-engraved print from 1990 by John DePol (1913-2004), a master engraver and prolific book illustrator. The print depicts a scene from The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe. It shows the narrator of the classic 1842 tale seated before his inquisitors. Part of a DePol series commissioned for a 1991 limited edition book of 150 copies. This print was evidently part of a small overrun and was never bound into a book. Signed in pencil by DePol. Professionally matted and ready to frame. DePol has also written "Bowne/Poe 6/90 X1" in pencil in the print margin. (Concealed under the ivory-color matting.) Matted size is 11 x 14 inches. Sheet size is 8.5 x 11 inches. Image is approx. 4.25 x 7 inches. Small bump to the upper corner of the mat, but Fine otherwise. We also have in stock another print from this series.

Signed wood-engraved print from 1990 by John DePol (1913-2004), a prolific book illustrator and master engraver of the 20th century. The print depicts a scene from The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe. It shows the narrator of the classic 1842 story being tormented during his imprisonment. Part of a DePol series commissioned for a 1991 limited edition book of 150 copies. This print was evidently part of a small overrun and was never bound into a book. Signed in pencil by DePol. Professionally matted and ready to frame. DePol has also written "Bowne/Poe 6/90 X2" in pencil in the margin. (Concealed under the ivory-color matting.) Matted size is 11 x 14 inches. Sheet size is 8.5 x 11 inches. Image is approx. 4.25 x 7 inches. Fine. We also have in stock another print from this series.

Original b&w photograph of downtown Saranac Lake in the 1960s. About 2.25 by 3.5 inches in a cream-color mat with an overall size of 8.25 by 11 inches. The view is looking up Broadway and a number of businesses are visible, including George L. Starks & Co., Blue Line Sport Shop, Alpine Hotel, Mark's Restaurant Bar and Grill, and Saranac Lake Supply. There's a small amount of snow on the ground, and holiday garland is strung across the street. Photographer unknown but the image was evidently published, with p. 113 and "ID. Ghost" on the reverse side. VG with typical signs of age, some spots to the mat. Could be framed as is or the mat trimmed to a smaller frame size.

NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1960. SIGNED association copy. The catalog of a major exhibition of 17th century French art. Exhibited in 1960-61 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Toledo Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum. With historical introduction, catalog entries on the art and artists represented, and 161 illustrations of paintings, drawing, sculpture, and tapestries. Signed and inscribed in 1960 by John Walker, director of the National Gallery of Art, to Scott Kirkpatrick, head of the National Theater, also located in Washington, DC. Walker was the second director of the National Gallery, from 1956-69. xiv, 93 pages + 161 pages of illustrations on glossy paper. Paperbound, 7 by 8.25 inches. Stiff blue covers with gilt title lettering. VG condition. Minor edge wear and a small scratch to the front cover. Crisp, clean, and securely bound. A superb association copy linking the influential directors from two of Washington's leading cultural institutions.