Search Results: Titles starting with P from Voewood Rare Books

2012, 2012. Signed acrylic painting on paper of a silhouette figure of a naked man (290x225mm) in a white mount and framed in black (438x342 in the frame). The image is a simple one but typical of Gormley's exploration of and interest in the basic outline form of the human figure. It is painted in black with a lowering sky at the top of the paper so that the whole of the figure apart from the top of his head is set against a white background. His obvious nakedness, his thin arms spreading out from his body and the sense that he might be about to lose his balance all suggest a fragility and vulnerability. But Gormley's human figures are famously impervious to clear and obvious interpretations which makes them, of course, all the more unsettling. Gormley has signed this on the verso (A.M.D. Gormley 27.8.12) and the painting is framed with a clear back so that it can be seen. Also seen is the fact that Gormley painted this on the plain white back of a small poster advertising the 2012 Voewood Festival… Read More

Paris: Morizot, Libraire-Editeur.� n.d. [1860s], 1860. Small 8vo. 140x90mm. pp. [iv], 668. Chromolithography frontispiece and twelve engraved plates. Beautifully bound by Charles Francois Capé in blue morocco, lavishly decorated in gilt with the monogram "A.M." at each corner of the covers, spine with five raised bands, compartments richly decorated and second compartment lettered in gilt, cream silk endpapers, all edges gilt. On front free endpaper is stamped in gilt "M.J.F. 27 Juin 1861". The following leaf has the inscription "A Madlle (i.e. mademoiselle). Marie Fontaine, Souvenir de relieur, Capé 31 December 1859". Bound in before the title page is an exquisite Gothic Revival illuminated manuscript on vellum recording the marriage of Marie Rose Jean-Fontaine to Ludovic Haverna on 11 May 1869. This is written in red and black with decoration drawn in blue and red highlights in thickly applied gold leaf. A gorgeous little prayer book and missal in immaculate condition. Capé (1806-1867) began… Read More

London Longmans, Green and Co. 1903, 1903. First edition. Original navy blue cloth with gilt title on front cover and spine. Some spotting but overall fine/near fine. 16 illustrations by Byam Shaw.

London Longmans, Green and Co. 1894, 1894. 1894. First Edition, First Issue with misprints: p. vi misnumbered as ii, p. 1, l.21 with misspelling "auctoineers" for "auctioneers". 12mo. 16 plates by Arthur Layard. Original dark green cloth with some fading but otherwise fine.

n.p. n.p. n.d. [pre-1775], 1775. Original drawing of classical capitals and urns with lines of perspective. Pen and brown and black ink, pencil and grey wash on laid paper without visible watermark, ruled border in brown ink. Sheet 302x218mm, window mount 350x275mm. Very slight soiling and foxing but overall in excellent condition. A very good, and rare, example of a study for an important book on perspective. � In 1775 Thomas Malton the Elder (1726-1801) published A Compleat Treatise On Perspective, In Theory and Practice; on the True Principles Of Dr. Brook Taylor. This drawing is a preliminary study for plate XXII from this book. Such drawings are rare; the last to appear before this one was sold at Christie's in 2011. Malton's book was important: the Royal Academy had been founded only seven years before and in its Instrument of Foundation there was a specific requirement that the art and science of perspective be taught. A Compleat Treatise was the first book to be published on the subject… Read More

London Horace Cox 1881, 1881. 4to. pp, iv, 142, 10 pp of advertisements. Engraved frontis & 12 further full-page engravings, smaller figures to text, tail-piece vignettes to some chapters and decorative initials. All edges gilt. Some spotting to verso of frontis and title page. Slight separation of binding between pp 96/97. In bottle-green, bevelled cloth with a gilt-ruled border containing a black-stamped foliate border and a central gilt cock pheasant. Border blind-stamped to lower board, gilt titles to spine. Some bumping to extremities with some loss of cloth at the bottom front corner and splits to the head and tail of the backstrip. The second, and much enlarged, edition of this classic work on game-birds

London: Printed for John Stockdale, Charles Dilly and William Creech 1787, 1787. First edition of the English translation. 8vo (210x125mm). pp. xx, 298, [2] advertisements. Engraved frontispiece by Charles Shervin. Early manuscript inscription of ownership on second free endpaper. Full tree-calf, decorated with gilt edges, spine with gilt bands and burgundy morocco label with gilt lettering. Extremities slightly rubbed, but otherwise a fine crisp copy. Bonnet's philosophical defence of Christianity was originally articulated in his "La palingénésie philosophique, ou idées sur l'état passé et sur l'état futur des êtres vivans" (1769) and "Recherches philosophique sur les preuves du christianisme" (1770). Bonnet's early work on insect reproduction, in particular, his discovery of parthenogenesis and the reconstitution of earthworms, led him to argue that science supported the biblical accounts of miracles and… Read More

Paris: Gallimard/Denoël 1991, 1991. First edition. 330x255mm. Unpaginated. 150 black and white photographs and 29 pages of text in English and French including a series of observations by Banier entitled "La Vie de la photo". Original boards with black and white photographic illustration to the upper and lower covers. Lettered in black to the upper cover and spine. Original dust jacket with the same photographs and design as the covers. Protected by a transparent plastic wrapper lettered in black. The cover and dust-jacket and wrapper are fine. The contents are fine. There is also a black and white photograph of an unidentified young girl loosely inserted. Whether this is by Banier is unclear. This is a clean and tight copy of this well-known collection of photographs by France's best known social climber. The half-title and the verso of the ffep have been lavishly inscribed and decorated by Banier in multi-coloured felt pen. The book is inscribed on the half-title: "Pour… Read More

[Paris] n.p. [1910], 1910. Inscribed by Rodin to his model and lover Eve Fairfax. Photograph of Auguste Rodin seated by a marble sculpture and surrounded by framed pictures. The bottom right margin is inscribed by Rodin in ink: "Aux beaux gestes à Miss Eve Fairfax son dévoué admirateur." Image measures 215x145mm, mounted on original card measuring 245x175mm. Eve Fairfax (1871-1978: she died in York just before her 107th birthday) was Rodin's model between 1901 and 1909 and they remained close until 1914. Rodin sculpted her numerous times producing work such as the astounding "La Nature, Miss Eve Fairfax" portraying his model emerging from natural forms. For Rodin, truth to nature was a guiding principle and one which found expression in his artistic and personal relationship with Eve Fairfax whom he described as "a Diana and a satyr in one". This photograph with its heartfelt dedication is testament to their closeness. Henri Manuel (1874-1947) opened a portrait studio in Paris in 1900 with his… Read More

London Francis Frith and Co. 1897, 1897. Photograph of Queen Victoria in her carriage outside St Paul's Cathedral during the celebrations for her Diamond Jubilee. Photograph measures 560x450mm (to top edge, top corners are rounded) in a cream mount and contemporary carved wooden frame (835x715mm). The photographs of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee were printed and published by Francis Frith and Co, the firm founded by the great travel photographer in 1859 and which quickly became one of the largest photographic companies in the world employing numerous photographers. Frith himself died in 1898. As part of the celebrations for her Diamond Jubilee in 1897, Queen Victoria was driven in her State Coach to St Paul's where a service took place on the steps of the Cathedral. The Queen was too old and infirm and couldn't leave the Coach so her Bishops came to her. Crowds are everywhere, even in precarious temporary stands on the roofs of the surrounding buildings. At the centre of the wonderful… Read More

[London] Peter North late 1920s [1930], 1930. Black and white photograph inscribed in black ink on the paper mount, "Dearest Stephen Best love from Cecil Christmas 1930". Signed in pencil by Peter North. The photograph measures 313x234mm, mounted on cream paper and cream card and in a simple black wooden frame (400x315mm). The paper mount on which the photograph is mounted is little creased and there are three small scatches (c5-10mm) and a few tiny white spots on the photograph. Otherwise in excellent condition. The striking image shows Beaton lying on the ground, hands behind his head, with the top of his head pushed up against a mirror. His head and eyes are tilted upwards to look at his own image in the glass so that it is his reflection that catches our gaze. It is a very clever photograph drawing together references to Narcissus and Janus while suggesting that Beaton meets us and is knowable only through his reflection. It is a perfect metaphor for the photographer who sees the world, and is in… Read More

Black and white photograph (238x189mm) of Charlie Chaplin and Harry Lauder signed by both of them. Light creasing and some rubbing. Chaplin and Lauder were the leading comic performers of their day. They only appeared together in one short 1918 film (which is probably when this photograph was taken). Signed photographs of the two together seem to be extremely rare and we have been unable to trace another one. Sold with this photograph is another photograph of Lauder inscribed by him to "Margo" and a postcard with a printed sketch of Lauder. There are also two letters and a legal settlement between Lauder and a Mabel Jarman (from whom this photograph and accompanying documents came) in which she agreed to hand over a number of letters for £780.

San Francisco 1979, 1979. Black and white photograph by Anita Corbin. Photograph measures 370x263mm in the mount which is 470x365mm. A small crease to the top right corner but otherwise in excellent condition. It shows Peter Orlovsky and Allen Ginsberg during a poetry recital. Orlovsky is centre stage, mid-declamation and with his arms stretched out. Ginsberg is sitting next to him quietly watching him perform. The photograph is pasted onto card and placed in a white card mount. On the back of the card is an inscription "To Peter, love and hugs Anita Corbin". Below this is written, in Orlovsky's own hand, "Taken in S.F. A Beatitude Benefit. Sept 18th 79". In September 1979, the Savoy Tivoli at 1434 Grant Avenue San Francisco hosted a benefit reunion for Beatitude, the magazine founded by Bob Kaufman, John Kelley and William Margolis in 1959. Ginsberg contributed to the first issue and wrote frequently for the journal. This benefit reunion has become a legendary event in the history of Beat… Read More

Leuven: n.p. 1670. A manuscript book containing detailed and extensive notes on a wide range of scientific subjects. 200x155mm. 494 leaves. 34 engraved plates. Text in Latin. The chapter headings are beautifully calligraphed and there are some attractive little drawings in the margins. Bound in contemporary full calf, upper and lower covers with a single fillet border in blind framing a blind triple fillet which then frames a lavishly tooled border with interwoven semicircles and floral motifs in blind. At the centre of each cover is a gilt supralibros with two men, one holding an armillary sphere and the other a pair of compasses. Above them are stars and between them a cartouche inside which is a triple-towered castle surmounted by a crown (this motif is repeated in the compartments of the spine save for the second which has a black morocco label lettered in gilt "Physica"). Beneath this is a shield with a hand holding a book and reaching down through the clouds. This is the coat of arms of the Old… Read More

Amsterdam: ex Officina Hadriani Schoonebeek 1695, 1695. Only edition. 8vo. 180x112mm. [16], 240, [16]. Engraved frontispiece, engraved portrait on verso of title page and sixty engravings by Adriaan Schoonebeeck. Slightly later full calf, borders in blind and gilt, spine with five raised bands, compartments decorated in gilt and blind and lettered in gilt. Turn ins decorated with gilt roll. All edges gilt with delicate gauffering. Internally near fine save for a closed tear to E7 (not affecting text). A very nice copy of the only edition of this attractively illustrated work on history painting which takes its title from Simonides of Keos's observation "Poema pictura loquens, pictura poema silens," (Poetry is a speaking picture, painting a silent poetry). To demonstrate the truth of this, Smids and Schoonebeeck each picture accompanies a text from Latin poetry or history with an explanation of the meaning of the text. So we find Hercules alongside an extract from Ovid's… Read More

London: Printed for the Author; and sold by W.Owen et. al., 1764. Fourth Edition, Enlarged. Third edition of the Compleat Appraiser. Tall 12mo in 4s. (198x75mm). pp. xxv, [1], 170, [2], iv, 46, 46a-h, 47-74. Twentieth-century quarter brown morocco with small arts and crafts style decorative motifs on the joints, brown cloth covered boards. Slight rubbing to the joints and mild bumping to the corners. Overall in very good condition. Internally very good, some browning to edges of title page and final leaf. Gathering Gg has been repaired affecting the text but not legibility. Modern endpapers and blank preliminaries stamped "Birmingham Assay Office Library". ESTC locates three copies of this edition in UK institutions and four in the US. This book (first published in 1757 and running to three editions in its first three years) is dedicated to "Cabinet-Makers, Brokers, and Appraisers and also to other dealers in Plate-Glass". It tells us almost everything we could possibly want to know about the… Read More

London: Printed by T. Bensley for Wynne & Scholey and J. Wallis 1805, 1805. 10 Volumes. 8vo. Endpapers and edges marbled. Portrait on frontispiece of volume 1. Engraved vignettes to title pages of each volume and title pages of individual plays. A Fine set in a contemporary quarter deep red morocco over marbled boards. The tips more graceful than usual with gilt rules to the borders. Spines with gilt ruled compartments and titles. A impeccably-bound set of Shakespeare. Volume One also containing Rowe's "Life of Shakespeare" and the text of his will. Volumes Nine and Ten contain prefaces and annotations.

London: Printed for George Kearsley 1806, 1806. Fourteen volumes. 8vo. 160x100mm. Green half calf, marbled paper boards. Spine with four raised bands decorated in gilt with a Greek key design. Red label lettered in gilt. All edges marbled and marbled endpapers. Some slight rubbing to edges and a little scuffing in places to the boards but overall an attractive set in very good condition. Internally very good with a little browning in places. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Shakespeare. Engravings throughout reproducing scenes from the plays. Volume One has Rowe's Life of Shakespeare, Johnson's Preface, Shakespeare's Will and "A Glossary explaining the obsolete and difficult words in the plays of Shakespeare". Each play has annotations.

London: C&J Ollier 1817, 1817. First edition. 8vo in 4s. (158x97mm). pp. [6], 121. Contemporary half calf, marbled paper covered boards, recently and expertly repaired by Aquarius, rebacked to style with gilt floral decoration and red label lettered in gilt. Original binder's ticket of G.Cannon of Great Marlow on front pastedown. Tiny chip to fore-edge of title page and dedication leaf (A3-4) and small repaired closed tear to B1 which has also been slightly cropped but otherwise internally very good. A handsome copy of a Keats's first book. Verso of the front free endpaper is inscribed A.M.B from H.H.M.B., June 29th 1897, Great Malvern. These are the brothers Arthur Middlemore Bartleet and Hubert Humphrey Middlemore Bartleet. Hubert was vicar of Great Malvern. His son Robert befriended Evelyn Waugh when Waugh was living in Malvern learning to ride at Captain Hance's Riding Academy and getting to know the Lygons at Madresfield. Robert had contributed accomplished drawings to… Read More

Leeds: F.E.Bingley and Baldwin and Cradock, London 1833, 1833. First edition, first issue. 8vo in 4s (230x140mm). pp. viii, 157, [2, errata]. Original paper covered boards, rebacked in tan calf with red label, lettered in gold. Slight bumping and rubbing to corners but generally a very good binding. Contents in very good condition with a little foxing in places. Some pencil annotations and some of the typographical errors have been noted in pen in the lower margins. Armorial bookplate of Kennet of the Dene to front pastedown. This is an excellent copy of the only published volume of poems by S.T. Coleridge's rather underrated son. The title page indicates that this is volume one but in fact there were no further volumes and later editions of this collection removed "Vol. I" from the title page.