Search Results: Design from Rare Illustrated Books

Chicago: Montgomery Ward & Co, 1903. Exquisite little catalogue of baby carriages and Victorian children's prams. 'The Tallest Mercantile Building in the World. We own and occupy it exclusively. We carry a stock of merchandise valued at over $2,500,000,00... and when you learn what we offer goods for, and compare our prices with what you are paying, you will open your eyes in astonishment.'. Small octavo, paper wrappers, 112 pages, over one hundred black & white illustrations, the mildest of chipping to head and tail of spine, occassional age marks, a very good copy.

USA, 1967. First Edition. Classic 1960s encyclopedia of American architectural designs for modern homes. Folio, 300 mm x 430 mm, spiral bound boards, 228 pages, 1700 black & white architectural illustrations including blueprints, slight marking to covers, minor annotation to interior, a very good copy.

Denmark: Gyldendalske Boghandel Nordisk Forlag, 1927. First edition. Hansen, Ernst. Bold and striking Danish language early reader abecedarium, an animal illustrating each letter of the alphabet, with K for Kangaroo. Decorated by noted Danish woodblock artist Ernst Hansen with verses by Hans Hartvig Seedorff Pedersen. Quarto, 32pp, string tied in original colour illustrated wrappers; externally a little browned and worn at the extremities, otherwise fine.

Paris: Fabrique Générale d'Articles de Voyages, 1840. First Edition. Alexis Godillot (1816-1893) was a contemporary of Louis Vuitton (1821-1892) and first achieved renown in Paris for his beautiful hand-made luggage. With a workshop situated just a few blocks away from Vuitton's, this catalogue comes from this very early period of Godillot's life before he had revolutionised footwear by differentiating the moulding of the left shoe from the right and become the famous shoemaker who would go on to equip over one hundred thousand French soldiers for The Crimean War. 'Godillot' remains a slang French term for 'boot' to this day. The album features superb hand-coloured lithographs with an original sketch showcasing nearly one hundred accessories including bags, picnic baskets, apparel, wonderful old trunks, tents, and hammocks- true 'objets nomades' - many of which are in surprisingly bold and modern designs. A beautiful, rare, and precious catalogue of the articles a traveller might require for… Read More

Paris: Audot, 1828. First Edition. First edition of this French instruction manual for cartonnage or making and designing objects with cardboard and paper. Tools, techniques for making basic shapes such as cones, cylinders, globes, et cetera., and methods of colouring, varnishing, and gilding are discussed. Instructions for making decorative objects such as baskets, work boxes, and ornaments follow. The projects develop in complexity from this point, with examples such as the Ionic temple presented in the frontispiece. Plates engraved by Nicholas Louis Rousseau. Bound together with DE BÉCOURT, A. "Art de Fabriquer Toutes Sortes d'Ouvrages en Papier" Pour l'Instruction et l'Amusement des Jeunes Gens des Deux Sexes. Published in Paris by Audot, 1828. First edition of an ingenious work for children designed to teach them applications of geometry. With a hand-coloured frontispiece. "L'art de représenter en papier sur une petite échelle un objet donné, consiste principalement il savoir dessiner,… Read More

Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1957. First Edition. This detailed history of Japanese art covers all mediums including sculpture, architecture, painting and ceramics. The influence of Indian and Chinese philosophy is treated in detail, as is the origin of native Zen Buddhist metaphysics in the fine arts. First edition. Quarto, generously illustrated with black & white plates throughout; original decorated papered boards, fine copy in a fine dust-jacket.

Sydney: Government Printer for the Technological Museum, 1915. First Edition. Important Australian design book giving historical examples of the utilization of the waratah in architectural decoration (brackets, capitals, columns, ceilings, et cetera), bookbinding, ceramics, lace, ironwork, wall paper, dado design, contemporary art nouveau applications and early colonial art. The author describes the use of waratah timbers in cabinetmaking, inlays and fine carpentry generally. ‘To the majority of Australians, the word "Waratah" has, perhaps, a rather limited geographical significance, for most people regard its application as referring to a plant only found somewhere near Port Jackson, and producing wonderfully gorgeous flowers. By the help of a work on this particular plant - ("The Glory of the Australian Bush"), it is hoped to make more generally known , that such restriction of geographical area is not correct, for both Victoria and Tasmania can claim a Waratah, as well as New South Wales; and… Read More

Brisbane: The Courier-Mail, 1955. First Edition. Program describing over one hundred delightful and amusing vintage fifties outfits offering variations on many a theme. "ACACIA: Wattle print nylon with softly tiered skirt. For the younger set. PICKET FENCE: Afternoon sun outfit for the unexpected casual outing. MOONRISE: Fully formal ball gown in Hydrangea shades." Fashions selected, arranged and presented by Amy McGrath. Organised on behalf of the Courier-Mail by Kenneth Lawrence. Illustrated paper wrappers, staple-bound, 12pp, a very good copy.

1850. Remarkable album of original watercolours celebrating the life- world of the literati. The album forms an intriguing catalogue of traditional Chinese scholarly objects including Buddhist statues, vases, wrist-rests, musical instruments, scholar-stones, hand scrolls, miniature ornamental trees and tray landscapes. While similar albums of watercolours illustrating costumes, punishments, trades, and natural beauties are sometimes encountered, such an album dedicated to objects of scholarship and meditation is a rare and special find. In Confucian philosophy, the literati enjoyed a highly-esteemed role, cultivating detachment from the day-to-day bustle of worldly affairs to achieve sanguine and lucid intellectual insight. This album lovingly captures the cherished objects of classical Chinese scholarship, and so offers a rare insight into this bygone way of life. Mid-nineteenth century album bearing woodblock title stamp ‘Chinese House Ornaments', containing twelve original… Read More

Stuttgart, Germany: Julius Hoffmann, 1923. First Edition. Exciting collection of architectural paintings, photographs, and decorative sketches in watercolour picturing modern interiors in Berlin, Nuremburg, Cologne, Stuttgart, London, Munich, Karlsruhe, Thun-Berne, Mayence, Bremen, Essen (Ruhr) and Darmstadt. Quarto, spine darkened, front board sunned, two-page introduction some foxing, mild edge toning to pages, previous owner's inscription, clean title page, all plates clear and bright, a very good copy.

England: Pearson-Page Company, 1929. A meticulously illustrated catalogue of electrical fittings divided into three parts. Section "A": electroliers, ceiling fixtures, wall brackets, and sconces; Section "B": lanterns and brackets; and Section "C": table lamps, floor lamps, candelabra, bridge lamps and shades. Quarto, bound in embossed decorated wrappers, 51 pages, two inch tear at top of spine, a very good copy.

Melbourne: Electrical Development Divison, 1940. First Edition. Alfred Hitchcock meets Australian modernism in this compelling trade catalogue of domestic appliances. The images bear a remarkable resemblance to the commercial work of Max Dupain, and may indeed be his. The artistic quality of images is undeniable. An exceptionally rare and rather astonishing publication. Small quarto, bound in illustrated wrappers, 34 pages, illustrated with 16 full page black & white photographs, near fine.

London: Country Life, 1918. First Edition. One of the finest garden books of the twentieth century. Christopher Hussey and Gertrude Jekyll created this impressive pictorial treatise dealing with "garden design in relation to architecture, and, to some extent, with architectural design in relation to gardening." Gertrude Jekyll in her association with Hussey and more famously, Edward Lutyens "devised appropriate rather than merely fashionable solutions; a surveyor's grasp of line and contour, allied to understanding of colour and plants, gave distinction to her designs." Jekyll's books are highly collectible and remain among the most important of all writings in the oeuvre of the garden. This is the most famous book on the subject, comprising introductory text and a superb assembly of photographs of garden ornaments of every kind, including wood and iron gates, steps, balustrades, urns, vases, courts, paved ways, seats, loggias, orangeries, dovecotes, parterres, sundials, topiary, pergolas,… Read More

U.S.A.: ITC, 1975. First Edition. Published to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the American typewriter, with designers Joel Kaden and Tony Stan reinvigorating the font by dispensing with its rigid spacing. "On every standard typewriter, there's a metal bar with a row of teeth spaced exactly one-tenth of an inch apart. In 1874 this famous bar lifted the typewriter from the inventor's bench and placed it in the office where it changed our reading habits, modified our concepts of legibility, and eventually opened the world of business to women." Bound in stapled colour paper wrappers, 340 mm x 153 mm, 27 pages, a near fine copy.

Philadelphia, 1885. First Edition. Elegant catalogue of art supplies for lacquer work, gilding, lettering, stencils and painting. Illustrated with wood engravings. McKinstry 232, providing the circa date. Octavo, bound in illustrated paper wrappers, many wood-engravings, 26 pp.; wrappers repaired at spine, a finy copy.

Tokyo: Seibundô, Shôwa 5, 1930. First Edition. [Shiseidô] AYAO YAMANA. Ayao Yamana (1897-1980) Japanese artist, graphic designer and illustrator largely responsible for the elegant look and style of Shiseido cosmetics. Hundreds of art deco designs for tea rooms, bars and cafes created by Yamana early in his career, prior to his appointment as the art director of Shiseido. This beautiful portfolio of Yamana's early work introduces a modified deco aesthetic. In the original printed wrappers, all enclosed in the original portfolio cover. The height of chic graphic design: remarkable, ephemeral, rare, complete. First edition, quarto, original portfolio, illustrated wrappers, 52 pages, black & white and color plates, a near fine copy of an extremely rare book.

New York: Maxton Inc, 1945. First Edition. Charles F. Bracker. Wonderful kangaroo-shaped book about a young kangaroo learning to hop, complete with an extra stand-up joey which fits into the mother kangaroo's pouch on the front card. This remarkable children's book, published as part of a series of "Mother and Baby Animal Books", is not recorded by Muir. Kangaroo-shape colour pictorial stiff boards, with original printed wrapper, and cut-out joey that slides into the pouch at front, 230mm x 300mm, 16 pages, illustrations on each page by Charles E. Bracker; a near fine copy.

1903. Arguably the finest of the French satirical magazines and directly comparable with Germany's 'Simplicissimus'. Many of the finest graphic artists and caricaturists of the period are represented - Iribe, Caran d'Ache, Villon, Steinlen, Rabier, Camara, Kupka, Robida, Van Dongen, Willette, Poulbot, et cetera. From its first number [4 april 1901] 'L'Assiette au Beurre' "was recognised at home and abroad as something unusual - at once the hardest-hitting and the most visually compelling [magazine] of its type. ...The magazine, which continued until the fall of 1912, never ceased to strike out against the alleged crimes of the establishment, of the privileged few who had possession of the 'assiette au beurre'." [Stanley Appelbaum in the preface to the Dover Publication's anthology of 1978.] The satire is not only France-centred - England, Germany, Russia and others are frequently in its sights. Bound in contemporary quarter cloth and marbled boards, edges untrimmed. Very good copies.

Paris: Èdition l'Officiel de la Couleur, 1952. First Edition. A bright and colourful album featuring the traditional costumes of China, Mongolia, Manchuria, Japan, Korea, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Published in 1952, the content of the album reflects contemporary French interest in the culture and costumes of the present-day Vietnam, with separate, detailed chapters on the colony of Cochinchina and the provinces of Tonkin and Annam. Limited first editon of 1000 numbered copies, signed by the artist. Large quarto, loose in original decorated wrappers, 260 mm x 360 mm, 52 pages, 22 full-page coloured plates, coloured illustrations throughout text; a fine copy.

London: H. Hacker Limited, 1962. First Edition. This is literally our list of typefaces, and we make no apology for not showing complete alphabets from 6 to 72 point. However for those who might say, 'what is Flash?', a sample setting is included in the form of useful advice, rather than in 'the quick brown fox' tradition of setting... In the hope that this type list will remain on top of the desk rather than buried by less worthy companions, we have included other items of interest. For example, there are details of some of the standard proof correction marks, the maximum size proof (3 ft 6 ins) that can be returned by post, and a diagrammatic description of what is left of a standard size sheet of paper when it is gripped, trimmed and bled." Oblong octavo, decorated paper boards, 216 x 88 mm, 20 pages, a near fine copy.