Search Results: Celebrations from Rare Illustrated Books

Viking Press: New York, 1951. First Edition. Rare American children's book. The action takes place in Koala Park where real teddy bears live in trees: Beautifully written and illustrated by William Pène Du Bois. Du Bois was arts editor for 'The Paris Review'. "Bear Party" won the Caldecott Medal in 1952. Octavo, bound in cloth-backed pictorial boards with original illustrated dustwrapper, 140 mm x 210 mm, 48 pages, colour illustrations throughout; a near fine copy.

Melbourne: Mutual Provedoring Co. Ltd, 1892. First Edition. Born in Lambeth, cookery writer Harriet Frances Wicken (1847 - 1937) emigrated from England to Australia in 1886. Having studied at the National Training School for Cookery in South Kensington in London shortly after it opened and acquiring a diploma, Harriet Wicken published her first book, the 'Kingswood Cookery Book', in 1885. An expanded Australian edition of her English cookery book assisted in securing her the position of head 'instructress' of domestic economy at the Sydney Technical College and ensured continuity for her publishing career. According to the 'Australian Dictionary of Biography', in other small cookbooks that appeared during the 1890s, such as The Cook's Compass (Sydney, 1890) to promote the Sydney grocers J. G. Hanks & Co, and Fish Dainties (Melbourne, 1892) for the Melbourne Mutual Provedoring Co., or Recipes of Lenten Dishes (1896) as a seasonal gesture, Harriet Wicken stressed simplicity and her favourite 'dainty'… Read More

Melbourne: E.W. Cole, 1908. Scarce Melbourne printing of this thorough work on sweet-making by the prominent American cookery author, Sarah T. Rorer. CREAM WALNUTS. Crack English Walnuts very carefully, removing the shells and leaving the kernels as perfect as possible. Put a half-pound of fondant in a small saucepan, stand it in a basin of boiling water, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract or a half-teaspoonful of the powder, stir until creamy, take from the fire, put a walnut on a greased candy dipper, dip down into the fondant, lift it carefully, place it on oiled paper to harden, and so continue until all are finished. All kinds of fondant flavourings and colourings may be used for walnuts. Chocolate is especially nice. Bound in original green wrappers, 124 mm x 181 mm, 64 pages; a little sunned else in fine condition.

London: Ward, Lock and Company, 1899. New enlarged and revised edition edition with numerous colour plates and just over two thousand pages. More than just a cookery book, Mrs. Beeton's guide is an encyclopedia of useful information on all aspects of domestic life. Chapters of interest include table decoration, treatment and payment of servants, medicine for children and the disabled, basic legal problems and their resolution, homeopathy, design and organisation of the nursery and much more. Interestingly the cookery section of this enormous book incorporates some foreign dishes relatively new to British cuisine including Indian, Jewish and Italian food. The former colonies are represented with separate chapters on Australian and South African dishes. This book is sure to equally please those with an interest in cookery and British social history respectively. Unusually thick large octavo; viii, 1644 + advertisements, fold-out colour frontispiece and 10 full-page chromo-litho colour plates, with… Read More

W. Egloff, 1943. First Edition. Paul Monnier. Deluxe limited edition, signed by both the author and the illustrator. Published in 1943, "Notre Ami le Vin" is a collaboration between Swiss art critic and writer, Paul Courthion, and the Swiss painter, Paul Monnier (1907 - 1982). One of only one hundred thirty copies printed on vellum cloth paper (paper vélin chiffon). Quarto, edges uncut, a near fine copy.

Paris: Salle du Journal, 1928. Art deco program for a grand concert in Paris followed by a midnight ball with music by The King's Melody Jazz Orchestra. Octavo, pictorial wrappers with the program for the evening loosely inserted, near fine.

San Francisco: Paul Elder, 1909. Will Jenkins. Decorated by Will Jenkins with typography by J.H. Nash and specially printed at the Tomoye Press. Small octavo, original printed wrappers, tipped frontispiece, covers a little sunned otherwise fine.