NINETEEN ISSUES of THE KEMBLE OCCASIONAL 1964-1989. "Issued now and then from The Edward C. Kemble Collections on AMERICAN PRINTING & PUBLISHING".

Published by The Edward C. Kemble Collections / California Historical Society, San Francisco, 1964-1989.

Includes the following numbers: 1 (1964), 3 (1967), 10-22 (1972-1979), 27 (1981), 32 (1984), 36 (1986), 42/43 double issue (1989).

Pamphlets, side stapled, 7.25x10 inches. Eight of the issues have 4 pages, eight have 8 pages, two have 12 pages, and one has 10 pages.

All the issues are in VERY GOOD condition, one issue has "400 here" written at the top of the first page, one issue has a vertical fold, overall they are just lightly used, still bright, clean and clear.

Articles include: Sam Brannan's Press, Type Foundries of America and their Catalogs; The Taylor & Taylor Facsimile of the Declaration of Independence; "At the Sign of the Lark" the San Francisco Publishing Venture of William Doxey; Booksellers & Bookselling in The Kemble Collection; and MANY more.

A nice gathering of these scarce publications on Printing and Publishing based on The Edward C. Kemble Collection.

FORMULAS FOR BOOKBINDERS, by Louis H. Kinder. Kinder was the head binder at the Roycroft printing and binding shop.

SIGNED and NUMBERED LIMITED EDITION, this being Copy No. 472 of 490 copies. SIGNED and NUMBERED by LOUIS H. KINDER on the Limitation page.

Hardcovers, cloth covered spine and paper covered boards, paper spine title label, 9x11.5 inches (22x29 cm), printed on Imperial Japan Vellum, title page printed in red & black, margin notes in red. Pagination: [12], vii, [3], 115, [1] pages. Illustrated with two plates, including the frontispiece, displaying bindings by the author.

GOOD Condition: The covers have soiling, a few marks, edgewear, and finger smudges; the paper spine title label is chipped at its top edge affecting several letters; internally there is occasional marginal finger soiling (one can imagine a bookbinder's not perfectly clean fingers handling this book), otherwise tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked.

From the title page: "Being a Collection of Trade Formulas, the Results of Twenty-five Years Study and Practice in the Arts of Tooling in Gold, Edge Gilding, Marbling, Stamping, and various other Departments of Bookbinding."

Rare 1905 Signed, Limited, True First Edition of Formulas For Bookbinders.

A DOCUMENTARY ACCOUNT of the BEGINNINGS of the LABORATORY PRESS, CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. By PORTER GARNETT.

Published by THE LABORATORY PRESS, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, 1927. FIRST and LIMITED EDITION. One of only 255 copies, so stated on the Colophon Page (the last page).

SIGNED, INSCRIBED and DATED by PORTER GARNETT on the front free endpaper to his long-time FRIEND and BOHEMIAN CLUB cohort, WiLLIAM H. SMITH, JR.:

"To / William H. Smith, Jr. / this souvenir of an old and valued friendship. / Porter Garnett / San Francisco / June 25, 1928."

Both William H. Smith, Jr. and Porter Garnett were active members of the Bohemian Club. William H. Smith, Jr. held various offices in the Club, including Secretary, wrote a Grove Play, directed Grove Plays (including one by Porter Garnett), and both were involved with the Bohemian Grove Hijinx encampment.

Hardcovers, parchment covered spine and paper covered boards, spine title label, 7.5x10 inches, Pagination: x + 131 pages + 46 unnumbered pages at the rear containing a descriptive and illustrated bibliography of the works of the Laboratory Press.

Illustrated with facsimiles of pages from the press, photographs, and five full page calligraphic initials in red.

The Laboratory Press was founded in 1923 as a part of Carnegie, set up to give students a chance to see what fine hand-printing and illustration involved. One of the more elusive American private press bibliographies.

VERY GOOD condition: Sunning / slight toning to spine, inner pages toned at the margins; otherwise tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. A solid, lightly used, very presentable copy.

About PORTER GARNETT (from Wikipedia):

******Porter Garnett was born in 1871 in San Francisco. He was an active member in San Francisco's literary scene and a MEMBER OF THE BOHEMIAN CLUB, writing and directing plays at Bohemian Grove. In 1896, he joined The Lark, founded the previous year by Gelett Burgess and Bruce Porter. In 1907 he became assistant curator of Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley.

IN 1922, GARNETT BECAME PROFESSOR OF GRAPHIC ARTS AT THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, teaching traditions, development and ideals of fine printing. There, HE FOUNDED THE LABORATORY PRESS, as the only program in the country FOR THE TEACHING OF FINE PRINTING until the press closed in 1935. The Press was one of the only dedicated to education in printing as a fine art. In 1932, he was awarded the AIGA Medal.

When Porter and his wife Edna retired, they established their home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Garnett died on March 21, 1951, in Calistoga, California. After his death, an archive of his papers was created in his name in the Bancroft Library.******

RARE, especially so SIGNED and INSCRIBED by the Author, Printer and Bohemian PORTER GARNETT to his friend, fellow BOHEMIAN CLUB member WILLIAM H. SMITH, JR.******

SAINT-DENYS-GARNEAU : NINE POEMS. With Versions in English by JEAN BEAUPRÉ and GAEL TURNBULL. POETRY by Saint-Denys-Garneau. Translated by Gael Turnbull and Jean Beaupré. Privately Published: IROQUOIS FALLS (Northern Ontario, Canada), for Private Distribution, Summer, 1955. From the Colophon Page (the last page): "mimeographed at Iroquois Falls, Ontario, for private distribution, Summer, 1955." Paper wrappers (only front cover is present - the spine and rear cover are lacking), front cover is hand titled "Garneau"; yellow inner pages, 7" x 8.5", side-stapled, 24 unnumbered pages. VERY LIMITED EDITION. One of four chapbooks / booklets produced by Gael Turnbull and Jean Beaupré in Iroquois Falls, Canada, reportedly in limited editions of around 120 copies. These chapbooks are sometimes thought to have been published by the Contact Press, but that is not the case, Contact only distributed some of the copies (and its stamp is on the title page of those copies it distributed). (Refer to Gnarowski: Contact Press, first published in Montreal, 1970). Condition: Rear wrapper lacking, as noted above; the front wrapper has some very light red splotches (perhaps offsetting from something red having been laid on to it?), the front wrapper is worn with chipping, small closed tears, and soiling along all its edges; the title page has offsetting to its front margin, the last page has wear and creasing along its stapled edge; there are a couple pencil margin marks, and there are general signs of handling. Despite its flaws, this is a bright, clear copy of this VERY SCARCE Canadian Publication. Provenance of the late Peter Howard of the now gone Serendipity Books of Berkeley, California. The first page has Peter's private code and a circled price of $325. Peter was known for his wonderful, scarce books, especially poetry books. He was also known for his often outrageously high prices.

A POEM : HOW A POEM CAME TO BE. A Lovely BROADSIDE POEM by LAURA RIDING JACKSON.

"Presentation Copy" SIGNED and INSCRIBED by LAURA RIDING JACKSON to HERB YELLIN, late owner of LORD JOHN PRESS, who published this broadside and also a Fine Printing edition of one of Laura Riding Jackon's books.

HAND INSCRIBED: "For Herb Yellin, gratefully / L. J.". The inscription is below the printed statement "Presentation Copy".

Also SIGNED at the end of her poem, beneath her printed name.

Published by [Lord John Press, 1980]. Presentation Copy. (Presentation Copies are normally printed prior to numbered copies, making them quite hard to find.) Subsequently printed in a limited edition of only 150 numbered copies.

Broadside, printed on fine heavy stock paper, deckled top and bottom edges, 15x22 inches.

NEAR FINE condition, some light creases from handling, bright and beautiful.

From the Broadside: "Within a very few years of the publication of my Collected Poems (1938)... I renounced further trying the way of poetry... saying: I would write no more poems - and I wrote no more poems... (however) I wrote for (a close friend), in the 1978 Christmastime, a poem, marked as a poem for him only, giving it the title HOW A POEM CAME TO BE. I kept no copy of this privately written and given poem, and forgot the writing and the giving of it... I chanced, recently, to tell my friend of receiving a request for a poem to publish in broadside form from the Lord John Press, indicating my feeling some surprise that Mr. Yellin, the Press's director, should not have been aware that FOR FORTY YEARS there had been NO NEW POEMS of mine. But my friend reminded me that about a year ago there HAD been a new poem - the one I wrote for him; and he urged me to let him release it to me from its private status of being a poem for him only... I give here the poem, given him, to be out in the world..."

LAURA RIDING JACKSON, b.1901 d.1991, was an iconoclastic American Poet. She left New England at the age of 25 to live with ROBERT GRAVES and his wife, Nancy Nicholson. The triangle did not suit her, and Laura Riding tried to commit suicide in 1927. Thereafter Robert Graves divorced his wife and lived together with Laura Riding in Majorca, France, England and Switzerland, and even went with her when she returned to the United States. They bitterly broke up in 1939. In 1941 Laura Riding Jackson renounced poetry, married Schuyler B. Jackson, and lived quietly with him in Wabasso, Florida, until her death in 1991. In the 60s, 70s and 80s she wrote a number of pieces explaining her reasons for renouncing poetry, but no poetry. This is apparently THE ONLY POEM written by Laura Riding Jackson since 1941.

You can read much more about LAURA RIDING on Wikipedia and elsewhere on the Internet.

This Large and Lovely BROADSIDE will be shipped carefully rolled in a sturdy mailing tube.

35 MINIATURE BOOKS IN DESIGNER BINDINGS, by Anne and David Bromer. Published by Bromer Booksellers (owned by Anne and David Bromer), Boston, 1987. First Edition. Printed by the Nimrod Press. Booklet / Catalog, chocolate covered wrappers, small format 4.5x4.5 inches, 74 unnumbered pages. Comes in a clear plastic snap shut case, as issued. ILLUSTRATED with 35 PHOTOGRAPHS of MINIATURE BOOKS in FINE BINDINGS, each photograph on its own page, with FACING pages of DESCRIPTIVE TEXT. This illustrated booklet was created as a catalogue for Bromer Booksellers. It offered these 35 miniature books with designer bindings en bloc. The Introduction states that the collection was sold prior to the publication of the catalogue. FINE condition, tight, bright, clean and unmarked; in a like plastic case. A lovely little look at a gathering of lovely little books offered in 1987 by Bromer Booksellers of Boston.

A COLLECTION OF PRESSMARKS: Gathered From America's Private Presses and From Others Not So Private.

COMPLETE SET OF ALL THREE VOLUMES. Hardcover Books, bound in gold, burgundy and blue cloth covered boards, 5x8 inches, 94, 102 and 100 pages respectively. Volume Three also has an Index to the Pressmarks in all Three Volumes. Each volume is fully ILLUSTRATED with PRESSMARKS from many American Private Presses. There are also two pieces of related ephemera laid-in.

Compiled, Written and Published by James Lamar Weygand aka "The Private Press of the Indiana Kid", Nappanee, Indiana, 1956, 1959 & 1962. First Editions, Limited to 165, 250 and 250 copies. James Lamar Weygand was a noted Indiana private press printer and publisher.

All three volumes are in NEAR FINE condition, just lightly used, tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. Lovely copies.

For some reason Volume One (1956) shows up from time to time, but Volumes Two (1959) and Three (1962) rarely appear.

THE TREES. A BROADSIDE POEM by ADRIENNE RICH. ILLUSTRATED by JOAN GOGUEN.

Published by LOWELL HOUSE PRINTERS, The College Yard, CAMBRIDGE, May, 1964.

Limited Edition, this being 1 of only 75 copies. "This poem was hand-set and printed in 14-point Garamond Roman in an edition limited to 75 copies by the Lowell House Printers. Illustration by Joan Goguen. The College Yard, Cambridge, May, 1964".

Broadside with b&w illustration, printed on fine, watermarked, cream colored, rag paper, 12.5x17.5 inches. The watermark is an image of a hammer and anvil.

NEAR FINE condition. Some waviness to the edges where the broadside was "pulled" in the hand press printing process, as normal. A Lovely Broadside.

This broadside came from the estate of Dennis C. Turner, a San Francisco Doctor who was a Friend of Many Poets and Artists, and who was also a Fine-Printer and broadside publisher in his early days at Harvard when he was involved as one of the student printers at the LOWELL-ADAMS HOUSE PRINTERS. He was a longtime friend of Cecil Day Lewis, Albert Gelpi, and a number of other poets and writers. He died in 2013.

These LOWELL HOUSE, COLLEGE YARD (Harvard) broadsides from the mid 1960s, especially those by important American poets, are SCARCE.

Published by The Franklin Library, Franklin Center, Pennsylvania, 1975. Printed in the United States, bound in Switzerland. A Limited Edition published exclusively for Subscribers of the Limited Editions Collection, The 100 Greatest Books of All Time. Complete first edition text, accompanied by Sir John Tenniel's classic illustrations. The fine leather binding is handsomely finished, ornamented and rubbed in the manner of old world handmade books.

Hardbound in full mustard yellow leather with embossed gilt decorations and green March Hare illustrations on the covers, spine with gilt titling, decorations and 4 raised bands, all edges gilt, 8.25" x 6", green silk moire end papers, sewn green silk bookmark, 161 pages, b&w illustrations throughout, a few with pink. NEAR FINE Condition: tight, bright, clean, unmarked, no bookplates or signs of use, the book appears unread. A handsome and collectible copy. Also included is the original Publisher's softcover insert "Notes From The Editors," 22 pages, illustrated staple bound booklet in NEAR FINE Condition.

Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, pseudonym Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), English writer, poet, mathematician, logician, Anglican Church deacon, photographer, and Victorian bachelor.

Sir John Tenniel (1820-1914) English illustrator, graphic artist and political cartoonist. Iconic original illustrator for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871).

ALPHONSE: Deleted Beginning and End of a Short Story, with an Original Drawing by the Author. By William Saroyan. Deleted Beginning and End of a Short Story Entitled "Alphonse, or the Death of a Small Boy." A Rare WILLIAM SAROYAN Illustrated Story. Published by The Lowell Adams House Printers in Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, November, 1965. One of William Saroyan's scarcest works. His Illustration "And Then He Fell Asleep" is unique to this work and has never been re-printed. Letterpress Booklet. Original printed wrappers, 6.25" x 7.5", side saddle stitched, 4 pages printed on the outside of double leaves uncut at the top. LIMITED TO SEVENTY-FIVE NUMBERED COPIES, this is NUMBER #62. The OCLC shows only 3 copies held in collections worldwide (Library of Congress, Harvard, and Yale). William Saroyan (1908-1981) Pulitzer Prize-winning Author, and acclaimed Modern Artist whose Abstract Paintings and Drawings are the subject of Major Exhibitions. His first published work in 1934 was the short story, "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze." Saroyan was born and died in Fresno, lived and worked in San Francisco, and drank and gambled away his fortune. On his deathbed, he called the Associated Press in Fresno, to make sure they would give him a proper obituary. "I know everyone has got to die," he told the reporter, "but I thought an exception would be made in my case." NEAR FINE CONDITION: A touch of creasing at the spine, otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked. An Excellent and Very Rare Copy.

POEMS OF W.B. YEATS. Published by ARION PRESS, San Francisco, 1990. ILLUSTRATED with SIX ETCHINGS by RICHARD DIEBENKORN.

SIGNED by DIEBENKORN on the limitation page.

This is Copy "L" of 26 lettered copies for private distribution by the publisher, out of a total limitation of 426 copies.

Red goatskin leather backed spine and cloth covered boards, 8x10.5 inches (20x26.5 cm), xxv, 171 pages plus the unnumbered Diebenkorn etching plates, in cloth and paper covered slipcase. Includes its original prospectus.

FINE BOOK and SLIPCASE. Simply lovely. The prospectus has a light crease to the upper spine corner area, otherwise bright and clear.

One of the nicest copies of the ARION PRESS YEATS / DIEBENKORN fine printing that I have seen.

SCARCE, especially so in the LETTERED EDITION.

THE CRETAN GOATHERDER. Poem by MICHAEL ANDREWS with FOUR ORIGINAL SILKSCREENS - TWO by PINDAROS MICHAELEDES and TWO by BERTRAIND BRACAVAL.

ARTIST'S BOOK. SIGNED and NUMBERED by the Poet, Michael Andrews, on the limitation page (the last page), and EACH SILKSCREEN is SIGNED and NUMBERED by its ARTIST, Pindaros Michaeledes or Bertrand Bracaval. This is Copy #7 of only 15 SIGNED copies, out of a total run of 60 copies.

Loose leaves in brown paper wrappers titled and speckled in silver, 7.5x11 inches (19x28cm) oblong, in the Publisher's handmade slipcase.

Published by Pré Nian Editions, Retaud, France, 2014.

Condition: FINE copy, lovely.

From the Colophon / Limitation page: "THE CRETAN GOATHERDER / poem by Michael Andrews...silkscreens by Pindaros Michaeledes and Bertrand Bracaval / hand-set in Vendome and printed by letterpress by Pré Nian Editions in the Atelier de Retaud / hand-made slipcase by Jeanne Frere / 60 copies, plus 15 author copies numbered and signed in August 2014".

(1) THE TYPE SPECIMEN OF THE VATICAN PRESS 1628. A Facsimile. AMSTERDAM: Menno Hertzberger & Co., 1967. Hardcovers, 5x7.5 inches. Pagination: 40 pages (title page, contents, introduction); 5 leaves (tables); 8-74 pages (the Facsimile). The title page of the facsimile is printed in red and black. GOOD MINUS condition: the covers are toned at the spine and edges, there is a light bump at the top of the spine and the front hinge is split at the top 1 inch; internally, the glue is old and cracking which means pages or signatures could come loose if opened wide (this is the case with every copy of this book I have seen - the binder used poor glue) but all the pages are currently holding, otherwise the pages are sharp, bright, clean, clear and unmarked.

(2) TYPE SPECIMEN OF DELACOLONGE / LES CARACTÈRES ET LES VIGNETTES DE LA FONDERIE DU SIEUR DELACOLONGE [Lyons 1773]. Facsimile with Introduction and Notes by Harry Carter. Amsterdam (Van Gendt & Co.), London and New York,1969. Hardcovers, 4.75x7.25 inches. Pagination: 82 plus the 120 Facsimile (facsimile pages printed on rectos only). GOOD MINUS condition: there is wear and a bit of splitting at the top and bottom spine folds, the inner pages are lightly toned and, like the above copy, poor glue was used in binding this book and the binding is crackling when when opened somewhat wide), otherwise the book is complete, tight, bright, clean and unmarked.

(3) THE TYPE SPECIMENS OF CLAUDE LAMESLE, a Facsimile of the First Edition printed at Paris in 1742. With an Introduction by A.F. Johnson. [AMSTERDAM]: Menno Hertzberger & Co., 1965. Hardcovers, 5.5x8.5 inches. Pagination: 11 pages + the Facsimile (approx 120 pages?) A facsimile of the original title page and a plate at the end are printed in red and black. GOOD condition: The covers are toned at the spine and edges, the spine ends are bumped, internally tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked.

(4) XIXth CENTURY ORNAMENTED TYPES AND TITLE PAGES, by Nicolette Gray. LONDON: Faber and Faber, 1938. First edition. Hardcover Book in Dustjacket, 5.5x8.75, red top page edges, 213 pages. VERY GOOD book, some pushing at the top of the spine, light sunning to the edges, offsetting to the endpapers, otherwise tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked; in a GOOD MINUS price-clipped dustjacket that is toned and has edge and spine-end wear.

(5) SCHRIFTPROBEN : ORIENTALISCHER TYPEN Wie Auch PHONETISCHE AKZENTE (WRITING SAMPLES : ORIENTAL TYPES as well as PHONETIC ACCENTS), Gluckstadt [Germany]: J.J. Augustin, 1933. Originally published in Hamburg in 1632. Text in German. Hardcovers, 5x8 inches, 104 pages. There is a pocket in the rear holding an 8 page booklet with additional fonts, it is printed in blue and black. GOOD condition, slight wear to the cover spine ends and corner tips, pages are age toned, otherwise tight, bright, clean and clear.

(6) SPECIMEN OF MODERN PRINTING TYPES, Edmund Fry. A facsimile. London: Printing Historical Society, 1986. Hardcovers, 6.5x10 inches. Pagination: 18 + the Facsimile (approx. 120 pages?) VERY GOOD condition.

(7) ANECDOTES TYPOGRAPHIQUES, by Nicolas Contat dit Le Brun; together with LA MISERE DE APPRENTIS IMPRIMEURS, by DUFRESNE. Reprints of works originally published in 1762 and 1710, this volume published by the Oxford Bibliographical Society, 1980. Hardcovers, 6x9.5 inches, 163 pages. The Introduction is in English, the reprints of the French works are in their original French. VERY GOOD condition.

(8) FREGI & MAJUSCOLE INCISE E FUSE DA GIAMBATTISTA. Small, paperbound facsimile of the book originally published in Parma in 1771. This facsimile published by the Harvard College Library from its Bentinck Smith Typographical Collection. Softcovers, small format, 4.5x7.75 inches. Pagination: XII, 58, plus 3 pages of notes at the rear. VERY GOOD condition.

This 8 volume lot will require additional shipping costs.

HANDMADE PAPERS OF JAPAN. A book/catalog of handmade papers by a Tokyo, Japan paper making company. The catalog includes an abridged facsimile of Kamisuki Chohoki's early, illustrated, Japanese book on Paper-Making by Hand.

Published by IIS CRAFTS, TOKYO, Japan, 1963. First Edition.

Hardcovers, side-stitched, 128 pages including 108 pages with tipped-in paper samples, and 10 pages reprinting an abridgement of a Japanese illustrated classic about paper-making.

CONTAINS 108 JAPANESE HANDMADE PAPER SPECIMENS, each 3.5x3.5 inches (8.75x8.75 cm) and tipped-in on its own page.

ASSOCIATION COPY, previously owned by the renowned paper restoration archivist GEORGE MARTIN CUNHA, with his bookplate is on the front pastedown. Additionally, LAID-IN is an unsigned typed carbon copy of a letter by George M. Cunha to Herbert Farrier. a VP at Andrews / Nelson / Whitehead (a fine-paper importing company), and a copy of Farrier's typed signed letter in response. The letters discuss Cunha's desire to "restore the rare and valuable volumes in the custody of this library [the Library of the Boston Athenaeum]". Farrier's letter is dated August 23 and refers to Cunha's letter dated August 15, but one or the other has the year wrong because Cunha's letter has the year as 1965 and Farrier's response has the year as 1963.

VERY GOOD condition, slight bumps to the cover corner tips, one paper sample has a crease and small tear to its bottom corner area, else tight, bright, clean and unmarked. All paper samples are present and amazing in their variety.

RARE First Edition, made especially so with the Association to George Martin Cunha.

About GEORGE MARTIN CUNHA (from his 1994 obituary):

******George M. Cunha, b.1911 d.1994, Director Emeritus and founder of the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) in Andover, Massachusetts. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, and long-time resident of Topsfield, Massachusetts, he moved to Kentucky with his wife Dorothy Grant Cunha in 1980. Cunha was an international authority in the field of preservation of library and archival materials.

Cunha influenced a whole generation of people who now practice conservation and manage preservation programs in institutions in all parts of the country. His books are recognized as classics in the field and filled a vacuum at a time when there was no other literature on the subject of conservation of library materials.

A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the United States Naval War College, Captain Cunha was a combat pilot during World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1963, after 26 years of service in the Navy as a pilot and underwater weapons specialist, he became Chief Conservator at the Library of the Boston Athenaeum. He spearheaded the creation of the New England Document Conservation Center (as it was then known) and became its first director in 1973. Captain Cunha was a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation, the Royal Society of Arts (London), the Society of American Archivists, and the Pilgrim Society.******

About the Boston Athenaeum (from its website):

******We are one of the country's oldest and most distinguished independent libraries, with a circulating collection of over half a million books...our special collections include active holdings of 100,000 rare books, maps and manuscripts.******

HUNGRY GHOSTS - Seven Allusive Comedies, by Joyce Carol Oates.

Published by Black Sparrow Press, Santa Barbara, 1974.

FINE PRINTING, LIMITED EDITION, SIGNED, DELUXE EDITION in SLIPCASE. "PUBLISHER'S COPY" so designated on the Colophon / Limitation Page (the last page), SIGNED by Both JOYCE CAROL OATES and the Publisher JOHN MARTIN. (Publisher's Copies were printed prior to and in the same DELUXE BINDING as the 50 NUMBERED COPIES. These "first off the press" copies were printed in a very small, though unstated, number for the Publisher's private use, and designated "Publisher's Copy" in place of a number.)

Hardcover Book in Acetate Dustjacket, patterned cloth spine with printed paper covered boards, purple endpapers, 6x9 inches, 200 pages plus the Colophon / Limitation page at the rear, in a blue-paper covered slipcase.

The Limitation Page states "...1000 hardcover copies & 350 copies hardbound in boards by Earle Gray which are numbered & signed by the author." However, there are also 50 DELUXE COPIES each hand numbered on the limitation page below the printing statement (e.g. 4/50). These copies can be identified by the marbled cloth spine, the slipcase, and of course the hand numbered limitation identifying it as one of 50 (or, as in this case, the earlier "Publisher's Copy").

Condition: FINE BOOK in a FINE acetate dustwrapper, together in a VERY GOOD slipcase that has some toning and foxing to the top edge, and light sunning to the edges. A lovely copy.

MY BROTHER, RAYMOND CARVER: By James Carver.

Published by Sore Dove Press, San Francisco, 2015, in an ARCHIVAL BOXED EDITION LIMITED TO 12 COPIES, this being hand numbered copy #3 of 12.

Each box measures 8.5x12 inches and was handcrafted using archival materials. FINELY PRODUCED by a noted SMALL SAN FRANCISCO PRESS.

The text, by James Carver, brother and only sibling of Raymond Carver, is on 35 loose 5x7 inch cards, printed on one side only. The last card is the Signature / Limitation card which has James Carver's signature and the statement that this is copy 3 of only 12 produced. In the text, James Carver tells about growing up with his brother Raymond and reveals biographical information that has not appeared elsewhere, not even in the last major biography of Carver. There are also 10 5x7 inch b&w photographs taken from Carver's personal family photo album. Some of these photos are shown here for the first time.

FINE CONDITION, basically as new.

Chinese American Type Specimen Catalogue

BOCK NGAR CHY CO., published in San Francisco (n.d.) circa 1934. Original decorative blue-green paper wrappers, top staple bound, 8.25" x 5.25", 44 unnumbered pages, printed in red and green, text in Chinese with some English, richly illustrated throughout. NEAR FINE Condition: mild age toning, tiny bit of wear at spine fold ends, tight, bright, clean and unmarked. A beautiful copy. Scarce, just 4 copies held in collections worldwide.

A typographic specimen book and trade catalogue featuring a wide variety of printing services, dual language Chinese-English printing, graphic design, typefaces, ornaments, borders, illustrated cuts, stamps, business cards, advertising, logos, and other printing jobs as well as rubber stamps, seals, corporate stamping machines, inks, moveable type sets, pens, labels, stationary and small promotional items. Numerous local Chinese owned business are represented in the samples, as well as Chinese companies outside California, and in Canada and Mexico.

A successful Chinese American printing and stationers firm in San Francisco's Chinatown, Bock Ngar Chy Company was founded by San Francisco native and visual artist Lee Shew Hung (b.1882). Educated in both Chinese and American schools Lee worked in his father's import export business before starting his own small press after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. I can't find early records but the February 1915 edition of the Chinese Students' Monthly has two ads for Bock Ngar Chy Co. Chinese printing and stationer services and Chinese artistic goods located at 920 Grant Avenue. The 1949 Chinese San Francisco City Directory shows Bock Ngar Chy Co. at a different Chinatown location, 556 Kearny Street and the last recorded item they printed was a 1956 calendar by Bock Ngar Chy, Youth Printing Co. It's entirely possible Lee Shew Hung remained the proprietor throughout.

POUR PSYCHÉ, by CHARLES MAURRAS. PARIS: A La Belle Édition / Imprimerie François Bernouard, 1919. Fine Printing from the Parisian Press of François Bernouard and his imprint A La Belle Edition. One of 500 numbered copies on Verge d'Arches paper, from a total edition of 550. This copy is numbered 417. Text in French. Illustrated paper wrappers in glassine jacket, 8x10 inches (21.5x26.5cm), 28 unnumbered pages. Condition: GOOD book, soiling to the front cover, toning to the page edges, otherwise bright, clean and clear; in a toned / browned but otherwise GOOD glassine wrapper. A solid, complete, presentable copy. About CHARLES MAURRAS (excerpts from Wikipedia): ****** Charles Marie Photius Maurras, b.1868 d.1952, was a French author, politician, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of Action Française, a political movement that was monarchist, anti-Semitic, anti-parliamentarist, and counter revolutionary. Maurras' ideas greatly influenced Nationalisme Intégral. A major tenet of Integral Nationalism was stated by Maurras as: "a true nationalist places his country above everything else". A political theorist and a major intellectual influence in early 20th century Europe, his views influenced several far right ideologies; as well as some of the ideas of fascism. Maurras was arrested in September 1944 and indicted by High Court of Lyon for "complicity with the enemy". Maurras was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was automatically dismissed from the Académie Française. Imprisoned in Riom and then Clairvaux, Maurras was released in March 1952 to enter a hospital. Although weakened, Maurras collaborated with Aspects de la France, which had replaced the outlawed review Action Française in 1947. He was transferred to a clinic in Tours, where he soon died. Former Chief Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon has quoted Maurras approvingly. ("Stephen Bannon Is a Fan of a French Philosopher Charles Maurras Who Was an Anti Semite and a Nazi Supporter and was sentenced to life in prison for complicity with the Nazis" Mother Jones magazine March 16, 2017)****** About FRANÇOIS BERNOUARD (from Wikipedia) ******François Bernouard, b.1884 d.1949, was a French publisher of the early 20th century, also a poet and playwright. He founded his publishing house in 1909. He published under four names: FRANÇOIS BERNOUARD, À LA BELLE ÉDITION, TYPOGRAPHIE FRANÇOIS BERNOUARD, and À SCHÉHÉRAZADE. His finely printed books are distinguished by the presence on the cover of a rose drawn by Paul Iribe .The collection of À la Belle Édition was reprinted in September 1943 by JB Janin.******

A VALIANT ENTERPRISE: A HISTORY of the TALISMAN PRESS, 1951-1993, Printers, Publishers and Antiquarian Booksellers. A textual history of Robert Greenwood and his Talisman Press, with a text bibliography of the Talisman Press books.

Published by The Book Club of California, San Francisco, 2007. First and Limited Edition, limited to 350 copies.

Hardcover Book in its plain Dustwrapper, 7x11 inches, 383 pages.

Condition: NEAR FINE book, the upper corner of the front cover is very slightly bumped, there is a light blue bb-size mark to the front page edges (page edges of the closed book), otherwise the book looks and feels unused, tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. In its original plain paper dustjacket that is in GOOD MINUS condition, with shelf rubs and closed edge tears.

Lovely copy of the book, in its original plain dj.

About the TALISMAN PRESS (from the Online Archive of California website):

******Talisman Press was a fine press operated by Robert Greenwood and Newton Baird, from approximately 1958 to 1969. After publishing "Talisman" magazine for only a short time, they turned to publishing two to three books a year on the subjects of Western American history, American literature, and bibliography. The business began in the San Jose area, but moved to Georgetown, California in 1962. Although they stopped printing books in 1969, Greenwood and Baird continued as book dealers until retirement in January, 1991.*****

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