NEIGHBOURS, by CLAUDE HOUGHTON (Claude Houghton Oldfield).

LONDON: Robert Holden & Co. Ltd., 1926. First edition, with the date 1926 on the title page and no statement of additional printings.

Hardcover book in its dustjacket, 5x7.5 inches (13x19 cm), 277 pages.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED by HOUGHTON on a 4.5x7 inch (11x17.5 cm) laid-in sheet of "SAVAGE CLUB" letterhead stationery. The inscription reads: "1.3.35 / Dear Miss Johnson, / Certainly I will inscribe your first edition of Neighbours. / Send it to the Savage Club, will you? / Yours sincerely, / Claude Houghton". A nice association to London's men's Savage Club.

Either Miss Johnson did not send her first edition to the Savage Club for signature, because this first edition is not signed on the pages of the book, or she sent another copy. In 1936 at New York's Anderson Gallery the following book was sold: ***Title: Neighbours. Author: Claude Houghton. Publisher: Robert Holden. Year Printed: 1926. Description: First Edition. In the rare brown cloth binding. Inscribed and signed by the author as follows: "This copy is inscribed to Elisabeth Johnson / Claude Houghton".*** Curious.

Condition: VERY GOOD book, the covers are sharp cornered, clean and bright; there is foxing to the page edges (page edges of the closed book); internally there is light toning, otherwise the pages are tight, bright, clear, clean and unmarked. The dustjacket is only in FAIR condition, it is soiled, has shelf rubs, closed edge and spine end tears, a 1.5 inch closed tear to the bottom front edge, corner and spine end wear, and some marks, nonetheless the DJ is complete and doing its job, and the inside flaps are bright. The laid-in inscription by Claude Houghton is bold and bright.

SCARCE First Edition of CLAUDE HOUGHTON'S First Book with its Rare Dustjacket; especially scarce with the laid-in SAVAGE CLUB letterhead bearing Houghton's SIGNATURE and INSCRIPTION.

THREE SIGNED POSTERS after Bob Seidemann's original series of aviation photographs the AIRPLANE AS ART.

P-38 Lightening

Fuselage, F-86D

Canadian Snowbirds

Photolithographs, each is 18" x 24". Published by Classic Images, Distributed by Pacific Images, Glendale, California, 1989. Each hand signed in black pen by Bob Seidemann. VERY GOOD CONDITION. Three scarce signed posters, I could not find any in commerce or auction records.

Photographer Bob Seidemann (1941-2017) is famous for his Hippie era rock posters. He was one of the most recognized rock 'n' roll photographers of the 1960s, he photographed Janis Joplin wearing only beads, he photographed album covers for the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, Jackson Browne, Neil Young, and the infamous Blind Faith album cover. Raised near LaGuardia Airport he developed an early fascination with aircraft that inspired his acclaimed aviation project which began in the 1980s. In 2007 the original Airplanes As Art photography portfolio sold at auction for $216,000 at Sotheby's.

The three posters will be shipped together, safely rolled in a sturdy mailing tube.

THE INTRODUCTORY LECTURE OF THOMAS COOPER, Esq., Professor of Chemistry at Carlisle College, Pennsylvania. Published at the Request of the Trustees, with Notes and References.

CARLISLE [Pennsylvania]: Printed by Archibald Loudon, 1812. First edition.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED by THOMAS COOPER to CASPAR WISTAR on the Title-Page: "Mr. Cooper / To Mr. Wistar".

THOMAS COOPER was described by THOMAS JEFFERSON as "one of the ablest men in America" and by JOHN ADAMS as "a learned ingenious scientific and talented madcap." CASPAR WISTAR was a friend of THOMAS COOPER and THOMAS JEFFERSON.

There are a few HAND CORRECTIONS by COOPER. There is a margin note and text correction on page 23, specifically "have already mentioned" is lined out at the end of page 23 and the beginning of page 24, and "shall assign in the notes" is handwritten in the bottom margin of page 23; also on page 23 "or" is changed to "of" and "are" is changed to "is"; the name "Accum" is lined out on page 88 (likely the French chemist Friedrich Accum); and the word "ruttlandis" is lined out and replaced with the handwritten correct spelling "rutilandis".

Hardcovers, marbled-paper covered boards, leather spine and corners, 5.5x8.5 inches (13x21.5 cm), viii, 236 pages, plus 2 front and 2 rear blank leaves.

GOOD CONDITION: Spine professionally rebacked and inner hinges professionally reinforced making this a solid, very presentable copy. The original front and rear paper covered boards are soiled, have some shorelining, creases, chips and tears to the paper covering, and are worn through along the edges and corners; but have a nice and sturdy Hogwarts' Library feel and look. Internally, there is foxing throughout; the pages are toned with age; and there are some tears, edge chips, edge wear, etc. here and there; otherwise the pages are clean and clear, and the printing is legible throughout. A complete, solid, presentable copy.

A RARE and IMPORTANT piece of AMERICANA.

About Thomas Cooper (from Wikipedia):

******Thomas Cooper, b.1759 d.1839, was an Anglo-American economist, college president and political philosopher. Cooper was described by Thomas Jefferson as "one of the ablest men in America" and by John Adams as "a learned ingenious scientific and talented madcap." Dumas Malone stated that "modern scientific progress would have been impossible without the freedom of the mind which he championed throughout life." His ideas were taken very seriously.

In addition to Thomas Jefferson, he was friends with James Madison and several Governors of South Carolina. As a philosopher he was a follower of David Hartley, Erasmus Darwin, Priestley, and François-Joseph-Victor Broussais; he was a physiological materialist, and a severe critic of Scottish metaphysics.

Later in life, Cooper became an ardent and outspoken defender of slavery, and personally owned several slaves.******

About CASPAR WISTAR (from Wikipedia):

******Caspar Wistar, b.1761 d.1818, was an American physician and anatomist. He was born in Philadelphia, the son of Richard Wistar and Sarah Wyatt. He was the grandson of Caspar Wistar, a German immigrant, Quaker and glassmaker.

Wistar was a friend of Thomas Jefferson, with whom he worked to identify bones of the megalonyx and through whom he tutored Meriwether Lewis, including recommendations for scientific inquiry on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Wistar was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1803. In 1808 he was given the Chair of Anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, which he retained until his death.

The Wistar Institute at UPenn was named in his honor.******

AUTOGRAPH ALBUM / GUEST BOOK reportedly for Chez Victor Restaurant, 1950s-1960s. Beautifully blind-stamped rexine (faux leather) covers, 9x7 inches oblong, 14 leaves.

Signatures Include: Oliver Lyttelton, Brian Johnston, Margot Fonteyn, Mai Zetterling, Edwina Mountbatten of Burma, Harold Wilson, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (who wrote "U.S. Congress" by his signature), Alexander of Tunis, Marghanita Laski, Freddie Mills, Shirley Winters and Farley Granger (both wrote "Hollywood, USA" by their signatures), Trygve Lie, Richard Greene, Rowland Emett, Ann Todd; Dorothy Layton, and others.

Most notably is the following on the last leaf in the hand of Robin de Beaumont: "...and finally / Robin de Beaumont / who bought this for Old Time's Sake at Bloomsbury Book Auctions on Wednesday 15th June 2005". Below his signature and humorous inscription is a Bloomsbury description of lot 139, clipped from an auction catalogue, with estimates of 200-300 pounds and a handwritten hammer price of 261.80 pounds (approx $360).

Robin de Beaumont clearly treasured this album, it has been professionally rebacked and restored, it is NOW in NEAR FINE condition, solid and lovely, nothing loose, spine beautiful, pages tight. When de Beaumont originally bought the album it wasn't in as fine condition, Bloomsbury's 2005 description stated: "1f [1 leaf] loose, others working loose, original rexine, a few tears, spine defective c.1950s & 60s." The Bloomsbury description does not state a place but notes [Chez Victor Restaurant]. I'll leave it to you to try and figure out which of the many Chez Victor Restaurants Bloomsbury might be referring to. Whichever it was, it attracted an amazing clientele.

***1952 INTERNATIONAL FREEMASONRY GRAND MASTERS REUNION***

***BOOK and LAID-IN DOCUMENT SIGNED by GRAND MASTERS of MANY NATIONS and LODGES***

DIE SYMBOLE DES FREIMAURERS (SYMBOLS OF FREEMASONS), by Franz Carl Endres.

STUTTGART: Franz Mittelbach Verlag, 1952. First edition. Hardcover book in dustjacket, 6x8.5 inches, 110 pages. Text in German. Appears to have been published on the occasion of the 1952 REUNION of GRAND MASTERS in BERN, Switzerland.

The book is SIGNED on the front free endpaper by 23 freemason Grand Masters who were attending the reunion. There is also a LAID-IN two page document with the heading REUNION des GRANDS MAITRES à BERNE, les 29 at 30 mars 1952. The document has the names of Grand Masters and other delegates attending the reunion and the country where their Lodge is located. The document is also SIGNED by the attendees next to their printed names.

Condition: GOOD book, some toning, light foxing to the endpapers, otherwise tight, bright and clean; in a FAIR dustjacket that has soiling, rubbing, some corner tip wear, edgewear, and some closed edge tears, but is still doing its job. The laid in document has a horizontal fold, some toning, and light signs of handling. ALL the SIGNATURES in the book and document are bright and clear.

An interesting gathering of POST WWII FREEMASONS primarily from EUROPE.

CORD MODEL 810 & 812 OWNER'S COMPANION, A Reference Guide for the Model 810 and 812 Enthusiast...Reproducing original factory and independently produced primary source materials. Compiled by Dan R. Post. Published by Post Era Books, Arcadia, California, 1975.

This copy is SIGNED by GORDON BUEHRIG on the front free endpaper. Buehrig, b.1904 d.1990, designed the CORD MODEL 810 & 812 and many other classic cars. He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in October 1989.

This copy is also an INSCRIBED PRESENTATION COPY [presumably by the author, Dan R. Post] to Ernie Mendicki: "To Ernie Mendicki / one of those who knows that 812 is a lot more than two minutes after 810." The inscription is on the front free endpaper above the signature of Gordon Buehrig.

Hardcover book, brown cloth covered boards, gilt titling and design on the front cover and spine, 6x9 inches, approximately 200 pages (paginated in sections).

VERY GOOD condition, the top of the spine has been pulled leaving some creasing and a 1/4 inch closed tear, otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked. A solid, very nice copy.

Ernest Mendicki, 1938-2002, was a car enthusiast well known in the automotive community. He reportedly had an encyclopedic knowledge of classic cars. Dan R. Post, also a car enthusiast, wrote a number of books on automobiles. Gordon Buehrig has his own Wikipedia page, well worth reading.

ITALIAN EDITION OF OUR TOWN TRANSLATED by NOTED MID 20th CENTURY FEMALE TRANSLATOR WILDER CALLS HER TRANSLATION "ONE OF THE WORST TRANSLATIONS POSSIBLE"

PICCOLA CITTÀ [OUR TOWN], by THORNTON WILDER. Published by Franco Campitelli, Editore, Roma, 1944. Softcovers, French flaps, 5.5x8.5 inches. ITALIAN edition, translated from the English by Alessandra Scalero.

SIGNED, INSCRIBED by THORNTON WILDER to Fellow Playwright GEORGE KELLEY:

"George Kelley - Cordial greetings / Thornton Wilder / Hamden Conn / January 1950."

Below which Thornton wrote (caps added for emphasis):

"Note page 73 - The Translator has omitted 'the address on the envelope' - one of the many places which render this version one of the WORST TRANSLATIONS POSSIBLE."

GOOD MINUS condition, the covers are lightly toned, have some corner and edge creases, there is a chip to the top edge, and the front spine fold is separating for 3 inches; internally, the pages are toned, especially at the margins, and the binding is a bit shaky but holding. Overall a complete copy, made special with the bitter inscription by Thornton Wilder.

ALESSANDRA SCALERO was an important FEMALE ITALIAN TRANSLATOR who translated many important works, including Virginia Woolf's Orlando, and was considered a feminist scholar who, amazingly was able to capture the essence of subversive novels, including Orlando, in Italy during the repressive 1930's and 1940's. You can read about her online. Here are a couple tidbits:

"Translating Orlando in 1930s Fascist Italy: Virginia Woolf, Arnoldo Mondadori, and Alessandra Scalero // The first full translation of Orlando in Italian was published on 1 October 1933 by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. What made the Italian translation of Orlando such a literary and economic success was not only the brilliance of the novel but also, as I shall show, the lexical expertise of its translator, Alessandra Scalero. In her translation Scalero was able to remain true to the spirit and the style of a subversive novel and what is more remarkable, she accomplished this feat in a climate of repressive censorship."

"Alessandra Scalero worked as a literary translator from English, German, and French for the publishing houses Mondadori and Il Corbaccio, from the late 1920s to the early 1940s. She translated novels by many prominent authors including Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, John Dos Passos and Daphne Du Mauier and often translated works for Mondadori's Medusa series. Scalero translated Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop into Italian in 1936, and Cather was impressed with the quality of the work."

IL METODO DELLA PEDAGOGIA SCIENTIFICA Applicato ALL'EDUCAZIONE INFANTILE Nelle CASE DEI BAMBINI. Seconda Edizione accresciuta ed ampliata. Con molte tavole e figure.

(THE METHOD OF SCIENTIFIC PEDAGOGY Applied to CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN CHILDREN'S HOMES. Second edition expanded and enlarged. With many plates and figures.)

ROMA: Ermanno Loescher & Co., 1913. Second Edition.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED TWICE by MARIA MONTESSORI to her TRUSTED LAWYER & FINANCIAL ADVISOR ALFREDO BRUNO - ONCE on the Dedication Page and ONCE on the a blank prelim page:

"Al Dottore Alfredo Bruno mio avvocato / affidandogli con la più affettuosa stima la sfera di questa opera. / Maria Montessori / Roma Gennaio 1912".

(To Doctor Alfredo Bruno my lawyer / entrusting him with the most affectionate esteem the entirety of this work / Maria Montessori / Rome January 1912)

"All'Avv, Alfredo Bruno / La Seconda Edizione / Maria Montessori".

(To Lawyer Alfredo Bruno / The Second Edition / Maria Montessori)

Hardcovers, red cloth covered boards, gilt titles on front cover and spine, 8x11 inches (20x27.5 cm), 283 pages plus 23 b&w photographic plates at the rear.

GOOD Condition, the covers have some darkening to the spine and margins, the spine was professionally restored, overall the covers are solid, with bright gilt, and quite attractive. Internally, the front inner hinge has been professionally reinforced, the text pages are toned/browned as normal, there is foxing to the first and last few pages of the text, the first plate has some foxing at the top (a result of facing the foxed blank verso of the last page of text), otherwise the plates, which were printed on good quality paper, are bright, clean and clear. Overall a solid, complete, very presentable copy.

ALFREDO BRUNO was MARIA MONTESSORI'S lawyer and advisor during the years that PEDAGOGIA SCIENTIFICA first appeared and the "Montessori Method" was taking off internationally. As such he was greatly responsible for the early diffusion of Maria Montessori's work. As Montessori states in her inscription to Bruno she entrusted him with "the entirety of this work".

Below are a few of the references to Maria Montessori and Alfredo Bruno found on the Internet (these from the Lilly Library; "America's Early Montessorians" by Gerald and Patricia Gutek; and an Italian Doctoral Thesis from the Università di Bologna):

******From 1911 on, requests for translations came to Montessori from all over the world. The lawyer ALFREDO BRUNO handled all correspondence, and all issues related to finance - contracts, copyright, royalty payments, etc. In the collection held in the archives of the Association Montessori Internationale in Amsterdam, are collected the letters SENT TO HIM between 1912 and 1914 from every part of the globe. The documents show on the one hand the international interest in the Montessori experiment, on the other the criteria Bruno and Montessori used in deciding to whom to entrust her work.*****

******She refused to sign the Montessori Company contract and her lawyer, ALFREDO BRUNO, told S. S. McClure that the proposed Montessori Company was dead: "Dr. Montessori has examined the contract plan prepared by you...relative to...the Montessori Company of America recently established, but she will not in any way feel obligated in such a broad and open-ended way."******

******On May 24, the lawyer Alfredo Bruno, Maria Montessori's lawyer for all matters related to the publications of the texts and the sale of the material, wrote to Heinemann: Dear sir, Doctor Montessori told me about your proposals which reached her via a letter sent to Mrs. Tasker. May I, as Montessori's advisor, request that all communications be sent to ME or to Dr. Montessori personally?******

THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY Volume I and Volume II. By CARTER G. WOODSON.

Each copy is SIGNED, INSCRIBED and DATED by the author, CARTER G. WOODSON, as follows:

"To Miss M. E. Cromwell / with the best wishes of / C. G. Woodson / Jan 19, 1918".

Mary E. Cromwell was a founder of the The National Association of University Women, an activist for equality for African-American girls, and a mathematician. Her father was John Wesley Cromwell. John Wesley Cromwell is listed in the Index of Volume I.

Two hardcover books, gilt titling to the spines, 5.5x8.5 inches. Pagination: Volume I, iv, 462 pages. Volume II, iv, 464 pages.

Published by The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Lancaster, PA, and Washington DC, 1916 and 1917. First editions.

VERY GOOD condition: The covers had some professional restoration to the cloth boards, they are solid and lovely with just light signs of handling and wear. Internally, the front and rear inner hinges are professionally reinforced; overall the inner pages are tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. A nice, solid, very presentable set.

HISTORIC and IMPORTANT African-Americana. SIGNED and INSCRIBED by CARTER G. WOODSON to his 1918 colleague at M Street / Dunbar High School MARY E. CROMWELL, the noted Black activist and mathematician, these two volumes are not only rare but unique..

About CARTER G. WOODSON (from Wikipedia):

******Carter Godwin Woodson, b.1875 d.1950, was an American historian, author, journalist, and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. He was one of the first scholars to study the history of the African diaspora, including African-American history. A founder of The Journal of Negro History in 1916, Woodson has been called the FATHER OF BLACK HISTORY. In February 1926 he launched the celebration of Negro History Week, now known as the Black History Month.

In 1911 he began teaching at M Street (Dunbar) High School - An Elite Black

school. One of his colleagues was the mathematics teacher, Mary E. Cromwell. In 1912 Woodson was the second African American, after W. E. B. Du Bois, to obtain a PhD degree from Harvard University. But he continued for years teaching at M STREET HIGH SCHOOL until, in 1919, he joined the Howard University faculty.

Woodson worked to preserve the history of African Americans. He noted that African-American contributions were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history.******

Read much more about Carter G. Woodson on his Wikipedia Page, in the article: THE BURGEONING 'CAUSE,' 1920-1930 AN ESSAY ON CARTER G. WOODSON (found when searched under that title), and elsewhere on the Internet.

About MARY E. CROMWELL, to whom the books are inscribed:

******Mary E. Cromwell earned her A.B. degree from the University of Michigan and her M.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and did additional graduate work at Columbia University. She taught mathematics at M STREET HIGH SCHOOL / DUNBAR HIGH SCHOOL, an elite public High School for African-Americans in Washington, D.C. Miss Cromwell was keenly interested in social problems, especially as they concerned African American women. She was a founder of the National Association of University Women, and served as its first Secretary.

The noted African-American JOHN WESLEY CROMWELL b.1846 d.1927,

was her father.

MARY E. CROMWELL and CARTER G. WOODSON both taught at M Street / Dunbar High School in 1918, the year in which these books were inscribed by Woodson to Miss. M. E. Cromwell.******

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS PLEASE NOTE: These two books will require substantial additional shipping charges. Please contact us for costs to your country.

GEORGE GERSHWIN. Edited and Designed by Merle Armitage, with contributions by Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Ira Gershwin, Serge Koussevitzky, George Antheil, Oscar Hammerstein II, Isamu Noguchi, Arnold Schoenberg, et al.

The original penned SIGNATURE of GEORGE GERSHWIN is clipped from one of Gershwi's personal bank checks and is pasted onto the front free endpaper.

Published by Longmans Green & Co., London and New York, 1938. First edition, first printing. Hardcover book, 8 "x 10.5" inches, 252 pages, no dustjacket. Illustrated with b&w plates and photographs. A tribute to the iconic American composer published just one year after his death. GOOD PLUS condition, the covers have light wear to the spine ends and corner tips, some scrapes to the spine folds; internally, the front inner hinge has some clear tape reinforcement, penned gift inscription on the half title, the text block has a few hairline cracks but is holding well with the sewn binding, otherwise the pages are tight, bright, clean and unmarked and GEORGE GERSHWIN'S signature is bold and bright. SCARCE and UNIQUE with the clipped SIGNATURE of GEORGE GERSHWIN.

Merle Armitage (1893-1975) One of the most important graphic designers of the twentieth century, father of Modern California book design.

A CHEF FOR ALL SEASONS, by GORDON RAMSAY.

Published by Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, 2000. First U.S. Printing, so stated on the copyright page. Hardcover Book in Dustjacket, 8.5x10.5 inches, 224 pages.

SIGNED & INSCRIBED by RAMSAY on the title page.

FAIR condition, there is water damage to the upper portion of the front of the dustjacket and the front cover, and waviness (but no staining) to the front dj flap and the first 50 or so pages, heaviest on the first pages and less with each subsequent page until it stops; despite the flaws the dj and covers are doing their job, and the inner pages are bright and clean. A perfectly usable cookbook. Of course what makes this a special copy is the inscription and signature by Gordon Ramsay.

CANTARES - VERSOS. Lyrical verses by ANTONIO BOTTO; Musical Scores by Nicolau d'Albuquerque Ferreira; Illustrations by Antonio Carneiro.

LISBON: Typographia do Annuario Commercial, 1919. First edition. Text in Portuguese.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED by ANTONIO BOTTO on the front free endpaper: "Ao exmo Amigo Correia / agradecendo as suas / belas atenção / oferece / Antonio Botto". [To my dear friend Correia, thanking him for his kind attention, Antonio Botto.]

Hardcovers, no dustjacket as issued, 4to. 9.5x11 inches (24x29 cm), 60 unnumbered pages. Illustrated with reproductions of paintings by Carneiro, each with a tissue guard protector, and with music by Ferreira.

GOOD condition: The covers have some light toning and soiling, the spine covering is peeling and worn, one leather tie is lacking, else the covers are solid and doing their job well. Internally, the pages are just lightly toned at the edges (except the front free endpaper which is more substantially toned), otherwise tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. A nice, solid, presentable copy.

SCARCE, especially so with the SIGNATURE & INSCRIPTION of ANTONIO BOTTO.

About ANTONIO BOTTO (from Wikipedia):

******António Botto, b.1897 d.1959, was a Portuguese aesthete and lyricist poet. Botto grew up in a neighbourhood of old shabby houses, the ambiance was one of poverty and promiscuousness. The dirty streets were crowded with workers, housewives shopping, vendors, beggars, tramps, kids playing, pimps, prostitutes and sailors. All of this deeply influenced Botto's work.

His first book of poems Trovas was published in 1917. It was followed by Cantigas de Saudade (1918), Cantares (1919) and Canções do Sul (1920). His book Canções (1921) caused a scandal and gave Botto a notoriety that has lasted until this day. In Canções Botto wrote about same-sex love in a very nonchalant and romantic way; and it featured a photograph of Botto in a languid, partially nude pose.

The journal Comtemporânea praised the author's courage and sincerity for shamelessly singing about homosexual love as a true aesthete. Conservatives branded the book "Sodom's literature" and had it banned. A year later the ban was lifted and Botto became somewhat of a mythical figure.

Botto's mythomania seems to have been a lifelong trait. He talked about unlikely friendships with people like James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Vaslav Nijinsky, Federico García Lorca or André Gide. On the other hand, he never alluded to his modest background or ever talked about his parents or brothers.

He was a regular visitor of Lisbon's popular bohemian quarters and the docks, enjoying the company of sailors, a frequent image in his poems. In spite of a homosexual fame, he had a lifelong and fully devoted common law wife, Carminda da Conceição Silva Rodrigues, a widow, nine years his elder. "Marriage suits every handsome and decadent man", he once wrote.****** (Read more about Botto on his Wikipedia page and elsewhere on the Internet.)

THE STORY OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF THE ARTS, by G. K. Menzies (George Kenneth Menzies, Secretary to the Royal Society of Arts).

Published by John Murray, London, 1935. First edition.

SPECIAL FINE BINDING by ZAEHNSDORF, LONDON. Full blue morocco leather with gilt embossed titling to the front cover and spine, five raised spine bands, top edges gilt, gilt turn-ins, decorated endpapers, 7.5x10 inches, 71 pages plus a Foreword and tipped in Presentation and Signature pages. Zaehnsdorf's imprint is on the inside front cover on the bottom turn-in.

PRESENTATION COPY. Presented to G. K. MENZIES on his retirement from the Society. A special tipped in Presentation Page warmly thanks Menzies for writing the Story of the Society and for his service to the Society as Secretary: "We, the Council of the Royal Society of Arts, ask your acceptance of this specially bound copy of the admirable history which you so generously undertook on behalf of the Society...We feel a sense of real regret that we are losing your services as Secretary..." This Presentation Page is SIGNED by five members of the Council, including John A. Milne, Chairman.

Following the Presentation Page are two pages with TWENTY-FIVE SIGNATURES of some of the notable members of The Society. Most I cannot decipher, the ones I can (though please forgive any mistakes) include:

John A. Milne (John Alexander Milne, b.1880 d.1952). John Milne was Chairman of the Royal Society of Arts. He was awarded the Society's Albert Medal in 1940 for services to Industrial Art. In 1932, as Chairman of the Council, he conceived and created the Exhibition of British Art in Industry, held in 1935 in collaboration with the Royal Academy. This was the first exhibition of its kind.

P. Z. Cox (Major-General Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, GCMG, GCIE, KCSI, KBE, DL b.1864 d.1937). P Z. Cox was a British Indian Army officer and Colonial Office administrator in the Middle East. He was one of the major figures in the creation of the current Middle East.

Tom Purvis, b.1888 d.1959. Purvis was a British painter and commercial poster artist. His work was part of the art at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics.

Henry Tizard (Sir Henry Thomas Tizard GCB AFC FRS b.1885 d.1959). Tizard was an English chemist, inventor and Rector of Imperial College. He was at the beginning of developments that helped change and shape the world. In 1944 Tizard won the Royal Society of Arts' Albert Medal for work in aeronautics and services to advanced Technical Education. He joined a glittering roll-call of winners, including Marie Curie, Guglielmo Marconi, Sir Frank Whittle, Christopher Cockerell, Barnes Wallis, Stephen Hawking and Tim Berners-Lee.

E. A. Tandy (Colonel Commandant E.A. Tandy, R.E.). E. A. Tandy was the Surveyor General of India.

Humphrey Legget (Major Sir Humphrey Leggett D.S.O.)

Who knows who else is to be discovered among the yet to be deciphered signatures?

VERY GOOD CONDITION: the covers' upper corners have a light bend and the top edge of the front cover has a small indent, otherwise just lightly used, tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. A lovely copy.

A SCARCE and UNIQUE PRESENTATION COPY from the ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS.

About the Royal Society of Arts (from Wikipedia):

******The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a London based organization.

The RSA's mission expressed in the founding charter was to "embolden enterprise, enlarge science, refine art, improve our manufacturers and extend our commerce", but also of the need to alleviate poverty and secure full employment.

Notable Fellows include Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Hawking, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Marie Curie, Nelson Mandela, David Attenborough, Judi Dench, William Hogarth, John Diefenbaker, and Tim Berners-Lee. Today, the RSA has fellows elected from 80 countries worldwide.******

LOVER OF ROBER GRAVES ATTEMPTED SUICIDE IN 1927 SAID SHE WOULD NEVER WRITE ANOTHER POEM

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

SIGNED by LAURA RIDING JACKSON 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, a bright and beautiful copy. Would look great mounted and/or framed.

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, 1901-1991, 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.

THE BATTLES OF CHANCELLORSVILLE AND GETTYSBURG, by CAPT. A. H. NELSON [Captain Alanson H. Nelson], 57th Pennsylvania Volunteers.

Self Published / Capt. A. H. Nelson, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1899. First Edition.

SIGNED PRESENTATION COPY. Signed & Inscribed by Captain Nelson to Captain Jack Wendell on the page facing the title page: "Minneapolis Minn. / May 7th, 1920 / Compliments of the Author / Captain A. H. Nelson / To his comrade / Captain Jack Wendell." At the bottom of this page are two ink stamps of "A. C. Wendell" (perhaps a son of Captain Jack Wendell?). One of the ink stamps states "A. C. Wendell / P.O. Clerk / Minneapolis"; the other: "Comrade A. C. Wendell / Co. K, 39th & Co. D, 46th Wis. Infantry / Minneapolis, Minn."

Hardcovers, cloth covered boards, gilt titling to the front cover (the titling on the spine is almost completely rubbed away / gone), 5x7 inches, 183 pages. Errata slip pasted on the blank area of an early page.

Illustrated with six full page line-maps, plus an illustration of Nelson's broken sword captioned: "Capt. A.H. Nelson's Sword / Shot away by a fragment of shell - Sunday, May 3rd, 1863 - at the battle of Chancellorsville, Va."

EX-LIBRARY with a shelving number on the front cover, "Atascadero Elementary School" stamps on the endpapers and title page, and a card pocket and return date slip on the rear endpapers. Ex-lib aside, the covers are worn but solid, the front cover gilt titling is bright, the spine titling has been rubbed away and is barely visible; internally, the pages are toned as normal, the inner hinge is cracked at a number of places but holding with the sewn binding.

Just as Capt. A. H. Nelson survived the Civil War, this book survived an early burial. Laid-in at the rear is a slip of paper that reads: "George found this book in the Atascadero dump along with many others discarded by Atascadero School. It is Autographed by its Author, Captain A. H. Nelson". Thank goodness for book collecting dumpster divers!

Though the book can be found with an unsigned "Compliments of the Author" inscription, the actual SIGNATURE, INSCRIPTION and PRESENTATION by Civil War CAPTAIN ALANSON H. NELSON makes this book quite exceptional.

About CAPT. ALANSON H. NELSON (from the Find A Grave website):

******Alanson H. Nelson, b.1828 d.1921. His father, William Nelson, enlisted in the Regular Army and was killed in the Seminole war. On August 1, 1861, A.H. Nelson enlisted in the Fifty-Seventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, leaving his wife and seven small children. He and Capt. Chase organized Company K to the number of thirty men and he was made a First Lieutenant. When the Company arrived in Harrisburg, Penn., A.H. Nelson was ordered make up the remainder of the Company, which he did, enlisting fifty-five more men. The company was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. At the death of Capt. Chase on June 17, 1862, A.H. Nelson was promoted to Commander. He led his Company through seventeen hard fought and historic battles of the Virginia campaigns. In the absence of the field officers Capt. Nelson, being the senior Captain, took command of the regiment for a period of eighteen months. He received his discharge in November, 1864.******

About CAPT. A. H. NELSON (from an Internet Civil War site):

******Captain Alanson H. Nelson, Company E, 57th Pennsylvania Volunteers.

The 57th Pennsylvania was commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg by Colonel Peter Sides, who was wounded on July 2. Captain Alanson H. Nelson then took command. The 57th brought 207 men to the field, losing 11 men killed, 46 wounded and 58 missing.

The 57th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment served in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War from December of 1861 until June of 1865. It lost 12 officers and 149 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and 217 enlisted men to disease during the Civil War. There is a monument to the 57th Pennsylvania on the Gettysburg battlefield.******

UN PORTRAIT D'APRÈS NATURE - ou l'histoire telle qu'on la crée. A monograph on the Belgian Female Surrealist Artist JANE GRAVEROL, by the surrealist poet PAUL NOUGÉ.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED by JANE GRAVEROL in FRENCH on a blank prelim page. Graverol's inscription thanks a friend for their kindness and companionship during her trip to New York and Washington. Ends with: "Très affectueusement / Jane Graverol / Mai 1963".

PARIS: Le Soleil Dans La Tête, 1955.

Wrappers / Softcovers, 5.5x7.5 inches (14x19 cm), 126 pages. Illustrated with 30 b&w reproductions of Graverol's surrealistic art works (28 in-text and two on the covers).

Condition: The covers are soiled, sunned, smudged, peeling at the spine, and starting to pull from the text, nonetheless they are present and still doing their job. Internally the pages are nice, lightly toned at the margins, otherwise bright, clean, clear and unmarked, and the sewn binding is holding the pages of text together well. Graverol's inscription is bright and bold.

Scarce with the Signature and Inscription of the sadly overlooked female Belgian surrealist artist, Jane Graverol.

About JANE GRAVEROL (from Wikipedia):

******Jane Graverol, b.1905 d.1984, was a Belgian surrealist painter. She started painting between 1920 and 1930, before the rise of surrealism and before she adapted the surrealist style she is known for today. She began to exhibit her work in 1927.

Graverol was closely linked to the development of surrealism in Belgium. She would considered her canvases to be "waking, conscious dreams". Her encounters after the war with René Magritte, Louis Scutenaire, Paul Nougé, and then Marcel Mariën, with whom she collaborated on the periodical "Les Lèvres Nues", reconfirmed her belief in surrealism. Her painting La Goutte d'Eau is a collective portrait of the Belgian surrealists. Her paintings offered an original, dreamy version of feminine sensibility, painted with a figurative technique that was both precise and cold.******

About PAUL NOUGÉ (from Wikipedia):

******Paul Nougé, b.1895 d.1967, was a Belgian poet, founder and theoretician of surrealism in Belgium, sometimes known as the "Belgian Breton".******

L'ART DANS LA DÉCORATION EXTÉRIEURE DES LIVRES - Les Couvertures Illustrées, Les Cartonnages d'Éditeurs, La Reliure d'Art. Par OCTAVE UZANNE.

[ART in the EXTERIOR DECORATION of BOOKS - Illustrated Covers, Publishers' Bindings, Art Bindings. By Octave Uzanne.]

SIGNED and INSCRIBED PRESENTATION COPY. Inscribed on the half-title page by OCTAVE UZANNE to the renowned book collector JAMES CARLETON YOUNG. The inscription reads:

"à James Carleton Young / Un ami des livres dédicacés pour qui bien volontiers J'offre en décoration extérieur de celui-ci la signature de son ami / Octave Uzanne".

(to James Carleton Young / A friend of dedicated books for whom I gladly offer as an exterior decoration of this one the signature of his friend / Octave Uzanne)

PARIS: Société Française d'Editions d'Art / L-Henry May, 1898. LIMITED EDITION of only 1060 copies. This copy is an unnumbered presentation copy.

FINE-BINDING. The original softcover book, including the front and rear wrappers, are bound in fine contemporary hardcovers, 3/4 leather and marbled paper covered boards, five raised spine bands, gilt spine titling, marbled endpapers, and gilt top page edges; 8x10.5 inches, VI, 272 pages.

ILLUSTRATED throughout with examples of decorative artistic covers, bindings and cases.

VERY GOOD condition: The hardcover binding has some scrapes to the leather at the spine ends, spine folds, and corners, but overall the fine-binding is solid and attractive. The bound-in original softcover book is very nice, the pages are lightly toned, as normal, otherwise tight, bright, clean and clear. The personal inscription by Octave Uzanne to James Carleton Young is bright and clear.

A lovely, presentation copy of this rare book that deserves to go from the home of one great collector, James Carleton Young, to another.

You can read all about the amazing French bibliophile, writer and publisher OCTAVE UZANNE on his wikipedia page and many other places on the Internet.

Here is some information about the lesser known Minnesota bibliophile JAMES CARLETON YOUNG (from the Hennepin County Library website):

******James Carleton Young, b.1856 d.1918, was an internationally known Midwest American

book collector. He graduated with an M.A. from Cornell College in 1876, and in 1909 Cornell presented him with its first-ever Doctor of Literature degree. He became wealthy buying and selling mid-west real estate, and used almost all of it to acquire first edition books.

Young collected first editions of both contemporary and non-contemporary authors, often sending the contemporary books to their authors with a request that they inscribe them. In Europe Young was given the title "Le Roi des Livres". Young was named honorary commissioner to the Paris exposition of 1878, elected as one of the three foreign members to the Société Des Amis Des Livres in Paris, awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1910, made a Fellow to the Royal Geographical Society of London, and received awards from many other important European and American book clubs and societies. The books in his library ultimately numbered in the tens of thousands and required the services of a full-time librarian, bookkeeper, several assistants, catalogers, translators, and agents.

Mounting obstacles to his dream of keeping the collection together and eventually donating it to the Smithsonian forced him to allow it to be auctioned off in installments by the Anderson galleries in New York in 1916. Young took consolation that his books would "pass into the possession of my fellow collectors and enrich hundreds of public and private libraries." He ended up being much better known abroad than in America, and relatively unknown in Minneapolis.******

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS PLEASE NOTE: This book will require additional shipping charges. After placing your order you will be notified of the charges and be able to accept or reject them before payment is taken. Thanks!

THE BRADY BOOK: Selections from ROY BRADY'S UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS ON WINE. Edited with an Introduction by Thomas Pinney.

Published by NOMIS PRESS, Santa Rosa, California, in association with the Wine Librarians Association, Healdsburg, California, 2004. FIRST EDITION, LIMITED to only 250 copies, this being copy number 205, as stated on the Colophon Page (the last page). This book was quickly sold out upon publication.

SIGNED PRESENTATION COPY. Signed and Inscribed on the title page by the Editor, and noted wine authority, THOMAS PINNEY, to the MASTER SOMMELIER GILLES DE CHAMBURE. "To Gilles de Chambure / from / Thomas Pinney / Stoney Hill Winery / 3.10.04".

Hardcovers, cloth covered boards, gilt design on front cover, gilt titling on spine, 7x10 inches. Pagination: lix, 199 pages. Laid in are 2 copies of the 4-page, single-fold prospectus.

Contains 24 illustrations, including 14 TIPPED-IN REPRODUCTIONS OF WINE LABELS and a tipped-in "Collection of ROY BRADY" bookplate on the page facing the Colophon page.

NEAR FINE condition: Light foxing and some tiny spots to the top page edges (page edges of the closed book), slight bump to the upper corner tip of the rear cover, otherwise fine, sharp, tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked.

SCARCE, especially so with Thomas Pinney's inscription to Gilles de Chambure and the bookplate of Roy Brady.

From the Publisher: . ******In 2004, on behalf of and for the benefit of the Wine Librarians Association, Nomis Press produced and published a special, limited edition book in tribute to Roy Brady, a man of many wine talents: The Brady Book: Selections from Roy Brady's Unpublished Writings on Wine. With an Introduction by Thomas Pinney. 199pp, 250 copies, presented in a handsome two-color format, with 14 tipped-in color reproductions of wine labels from the Brady Collection.******

A KEEPSAKE FOR ALFRED A. KNOPF. "Written and Printed by Various Hands Celebrating His Fiftieth Year as a Book Publisher".

FIFTY FINELY-PRINTED, SMALL-PRESS LEAFLETS, including an introductory pamphlet by Charles Antin. The leaflets were printed by a wide variety of small private presses. All were printed in tribute to the publisher Alfred A. Knopf. There is also a leaflet that lists all the contributors and their presses (so, 51 leaflets total). The leaflets are all loose and held in a Publisher's slipcase.

SIGNED ASSOCIATION COPY. Two letters accompany the keepsake. One is from ALFRED A. KNOPF, and is SIGNED by KNOPF, likely secretarially. The letter is on Alfred A. Knopf stationery and comes with its Knopf mailing envelope. The letter is addressed to FRANK POWERS. It thanks Frank Powers for his contribution to the keepsake collection (Frank Powers / Powers Private Press provided one of the keepsakes). The other letter is from Charles Antin of the Serendipity Press. In his letter he thanks Frank [Powers] for his contribution and says he is enclosing a copy of the keepsake tribute collection. Charles Antin organized the Knopf tribute.

The keepsakes are 4.5x7 inch leaflets, most are 4 pages, some are two sides of a single leaf, some have more pages, and a few have inserts. THEY HAVE BEEN COLLATED with the included LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS (49) and are all present and in proper order. The keepsakes and the list of contributors are held in a purple paper covered slipcase which has a printed wraparound title band.

Contributors include Frank Altschul / Overbrook Press; Merle Armitage / Mohawk Press; Joseph Blumenthal / Spiral Press; Warren Chappell / Salisbury Press; Muir Dawson and Saul Marks / Plantin Press; Frank Powers / Powers Private Press; Ward Ritchie / Anderson, Ritchie & Simon; Patricia Waddel / Pratt Institute; Lili and Erich Wronker / Ron Press; and many others.

NEW YORK: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965. Limited Edition of only 150 copies.

VERY GOOD CONDITION: The slipcase has some rubs and light toning, the leaflets are all bright and clear, the letters are folded. A nice, solid set of keepsakes plus letters from Knopf and Antin.

About FRANK POWERS, one of the keepsake contributors and to whom letters of thanks from Knopf and Antin were addressed (from the Type Directors Club website):

******Frank Powers was one of the founders of the Type Directors Club "TDC", he even originated the term "Type Director" to give the role a more professional standing. In 1946 he became the TDC's first President, followed by two additional presidencies in 1961 and 1962. He also served as a tireless chairman of many TDC committees. Powers Often prepared club announcements on his home printing press, making printing plates from "a jar top, string, cork letters, a medal, linoleum, rubber tile, and cardboard." Frank worked as Director of Typography for J. Walter Thompson for 22 years.

In 1971 Frank Powers became the third member of the TDC to be honored with the TDC Medal "awarded for significant contributions to typography"******