Author Archives: Tom
Where’s my damn sailcar?
From William Emerson’s 1754 work, Principles of Mechanics, and still not in my driveway.
Distillation ca. 1792
Below are two plates picturing distillation equipment and an explanatory (or obfuscatory, depending on your French) section from Annales de Chimie, January 1792. Gadolin was a prominent Finnish chemist and discovered Yttrium which, allegedly, is an element that looks like… continue reading »
Chap Record: Behold herein, all nice and neat, a record of the men I meet.
A charming turn of the century book for recording ones impressions of chaps, the previous owner has filled out 13 pages, representing over 50 chaps. I suspect she transferred some chaps from a previous record, as the dates run from… continue reading »
New Arrivals: Fairy Tales, Poe, and Animated Flowers
A nice group new to the shop including a number of Rackhams, Dulac’s Sleeping Beauty, Grandville’s Les Fleurs Animées, a lovely illustrated edition of Baudelaire’s translation of Poe, a charming fine press edition of La Belle Au Bois Dormant, and… continue reading »
Recent Arrivals in Theater History, Witchcraft, Nuclear Physics Etc.
Including a manuscript David Garrick letter in an extra-illustrated set.
Torpedoes, Mines, Dirigibles: Scientific American, 1889
We just picked up a collection of Scientific Americans from 1889 – this group is mostly from the latter half of the year. A rather amazing assortment of torpedoes, mines, inventions, dirigibles, bridges, aqueducts, tunnels and warships are represented on… continue reading »
Diderot and D’Alembert: The Encyclopédie
A few plates from the quarto edition in 39 volumes of a work that has been described as: “A monument in the history of European thought; the acme of the age of reason” (Printing and the Mind of Man) and… continue reading »
New Arrivals: The Guild of Women Binders, Kids Illustrated Books
A various group of recent arrivals including – Baum’s Queen Zixi, Kate Greenway illustrated Brett Harte, silhouettes, a 16th century book on gardening, and a pair of finely bound volumes by The Guild of Women Binders. An Arts and Crafts… continue reading »
Edith Sitwell, Yodeling Centaurs
Towards the unloved bottom of a pile of modern literature that I picked up at auction last week, I found a copy of Edith Sitwell’s Rustic Elegies (Knopf, 1927) in a nearly destroyed jacket. I was going to slap $8… continue reading »
John White: Artist of the Lost Colony
John White travelled with Richard Grenville to North Carolina in 1585 and was later Sir Walter Raleigh’s governor of the “Lost Colony” on Roanoke Island when it was beset with volcanoes and plunged into the sea never to be seen… continue reading »
Recent Acquisitions – Richard Nixon Jumps – Henry Miller’s Head
A small gallery of recent acquisitions – have I tried to do this every week or so before? Here’s me trying again… Initially I thought that Kate Greenaway young lady was giving the old va fangool, but now I’m not… continue reading »
West Roxbury Magazine
Though called a magazine, it’s really a one off history of West Roxbury focused largely on the religious institutions here and Theodore Parker in particular. It includes a number of likable shots of West Roxbury, including the Bellevue Hill Water… continue reading »
Painted Vellum Bindings
A nice group of painted vellum bindings just came in – they are sometimes referred to as “Chivers style” after the bookbinder who made famously lovely bindings in this mode.
Marbled Wallpaper
I was struck by these endpapers and decided to form a company to reproduce marbled paper as wallpaper. Has anyone ever done that? In any case, I’m going to need 5 million dollars immediately.