"May blessings be upon the head of Cadmus, the Phoenicians, or whoever it was that invented books." -Thomas Carlyle Welcome to my virtual book collection. Since collecting actual books is somewhat cost-prohibitive, I've begun to amass all of the books I would love to have if I had the means. Some are new, lots are old, all are unique or beautiful or unusual or in some other way have captured my fancy. Enjoy browsing! Special Collections: Fine Bindings ~ Fairies and Fairy Tales ~ Terror and Madness ~ Poetry ~ Food, Drink and Apothecary ~ Science Fiction ~ Illuminations, Lettering and Hand-Coloring ~ Magic ~ Supernatural and Occult ~ Alchemy ~ Science and Technical ~ Maritime ~ Costumes ~ Humor ~ Children's books ~ Legend of King Arthur ~ Americana ~ 18th Century ~ 19th Century Authors and illustrators: Edgar Allan Poe ~ Jules Verne ~ Edmund Dulac ~ Kay Nielsen ~ Arthur Rackham ~ Edward Gorey ~ Charles Dickens ~ H.P. Lovecraft ~ William Hope Hodgson ~ Mark Twain ~ Lewis Carroll ~ Salvador Dali ~ George Cruikshank ~ Emily Dickinson ~ Geoffrey Chaucer ~ H.G. Wells var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-18379614-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();
Among the Gnomes. An Occult Tale of Adventure in the Untersber.
Hartmann, Franz
London: T. Fisher Unwin 1895. 8vo. Orig. illust. cloth (extremities rubbed and edges of spine chipped). (vi 272pp.). With frontisp. and 11 b/w plates. 1st ed.
"Who has ever occupied himself seriously with the investigation of the ânight-side of Nature,â or studied the works of Theophrastus Paracelsus and not become acquainted with the celebrated âUntersbergâ (the âmountain of the lower worldâ) and its mysterious inhabitants, the fairies and gnomes?"
The first chapter can be read here.
An upcoming auction of original artwork of science fiction book covers, including a selection of work by Virgil Finlay. Images courtesy of Heritage Auction, The Glynn and Suzanne Crain Science Fiction Collection. Images above: 1. Virgil Finlay Reader, I Hate You, Super Science Stories cover, May 1943 Acrylic on board 2. Ken Kelly Hide and Go Mad, Creepy #85 cover, January 1977 Oil on canvasboard 3. John Conrad Berkey Run to the Stars paperback cover, 1986 Acrylic on board 4. Jeff Jones The Big Jump paperback cover, 1967 Oil on canvas 5. Virgil Finlay Space Police dust jacket, 1956 Acrylic on board
(Couretsy of Bauman Rare Books)
ASIMOV, Isaac. I, Robot. New York: Gnome Press, (1950). Octavo, original red cloth, original dust jacket.
First edition, first issue, of Asimovâs influential collection of nine robot stories.
1683 London Pharmacopeia Culpeper HERBAL Alchemy Poor Medicine Pharmacy Unicorns (courtesy of Schilb Antiquarian)
"The Skull of a man that was never buried, being beaten to Powder, and given inwardly, the quantity of a dram at a time in Betony water, helps Palsies and Falling-sickness.
Edited by Sam Gafford
Cover by MS Corley
Carnacki: Captain Gaultâs Nemesis by William Meikle
Monmouthâs Giants by Josh Reynolds
A Gaslight Horror by P. V. Ross
Carnacki and the Presidentâs Vampire by Robert Pohle
The Spar: A Story of Carnacki by Fred Blosser
The Braes of the Blackstarr by Robert Jefferson
The Magicianâs Study by Buck Weiss
How They Met Themselves by Charles R. Rutledge
The Haunting of Tranquil House by Jim Beard
The Ghosts of Kuskulang by Amy K. Marshall
A Job for Carnacki by Robert M. Price
Audience with the Ghost Finder by M. J. Starling
THE TRAVELLING GRAVE AND OTHER STORIES by Hartley, L[eslie] P[oles] Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House,. 1948. First edition. Signed by Hartley on the front free endpaper. "Hartley scattered supernatural material throughout his short story collections, as well as the mainstream novels, such as THE GO-BETWEEN, for which he is better known. The present volume concentrates most of this material in one collection. The author worked mainly as a critic and reviewer, writing fiction on the side and bringing to it a sensibility that fused "a Hobbesian view of human nature [and] a childlike rapture ..." (Sullivan, The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 193)" (text from ABAA)
Published by Timeless - 2013 - France
21x29Â cm - 180 pages in colours - ClothboundÂ
Foreword by David Tibet (Current 93)
First major monography about young polish artist Alexandra Waliszewska.
Problem is the first volume of a 2 books anthology and presents all the vertical oriented artworks done by the artist.
Limited to 300 copies (250 available to public)
Heading: (Beardsley, Aubrey) Author: ** Title: The Uncollected Work of Aubrey Beardsley Place: New York Publisher: Dodd, Mead and Company Date: [1925] xxiv, [4] pp. 162 plates interleaved with descriptive letter press. (4to) 28.3x22 cm. (11Œx8Ÿ") original white cloth stamped in blue. First American Edition. Introduction by C. Lewis Hind. Several of the illustrations appear here for the first time, others are likely not actually by Beardsley.
Saturnalia H.P. Lovecraft Deep Wood Press, 2013 "Original collagraph image and border design by Chad Pastotnik. Pamphlet stitched with 450gsm (heavy) Twinrocker Micah Rose covers, a heavy Arches Black spine, printed washi eastern pattern flyleaves and silver foil stamped title on the cover."
Rumbullion, and Other Liminal Libations Molly Tanzer, Egaeus Press, 2013 B-A's most recent acquisition. I am partway through the feature novella and it is fantastic. The book itself is lovely, sewn hardback with endpaper illustrations
Mock Beggar Hall Robert Graves. Hogarth Press. 1924. First Edition. Original dark grey boards, the imposing overall front cover design is by William Nicholson and printed in black, Simon Nowell-Smithâs book label, untrimmed. -------------------------------- Myrrhina O, why judge Myrrhina As though she were a man? She obeys a dark wisdom (As Eve did before her) Which never can fail, Being bound by no pride Of armorial bearings Bequeathed in tail male. And though your blood brother Who dared to do you wrong In his greed of Myrrhina Might plead a like wisdom The fault to excuse. Myrrhina is just, She has hanged the vain rogue By the neck from her noose.
Through the Looking-Glass Lewis Carroll. Bound By Kelliegram. With Fifty Illustrations by John Tenniel. London: Macmillan and Co., 1927. A spectacular Kelliegram pictorial binding, ca. 1927, stamp-signed "Kelliegram Binding London," of full dark green crushed morocco. Covers decoratively panelled in gilt, with five characters from the story depicted in multi-colored morocco onlays on each cover. The front cover with central onlay of Humpty Dumpty in brown, red, pale green, black, blue and beige morocco and corner onlays of: the White Queen, the Red Queen, Haigha (the Messenger), and Hatta (the other Messenger). The lower cover reiterates the upper's design with a central onlay of the Walrus in brown red, pale green and beige morocco and corner onlays of: the Carpenter, the Old Sheep, Tweedledum & Tweedledee, the Frog and the Carpener. Spine richly gilt in compartments with dots and pictorial devices. Five raised bands with gilt dots. Turn-ins with gilt corner devices. Amber silk endpapers. All edges gilt.
Spells and Philtres Clark Ashton Smith, Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1958. First edition / First printing. Octavo. Hardcover. A very good copy in a very good dust jacket. One of 519 copies. Jacket art by Frank Utpatel. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries #51.
The Devilâs Dictionary is a satirical âreferenceâ book written by Ambrose Bierce. The book offers reinterpretations of terms in the English language, lampooning cant and political doublespeak, as well as other aspects of human foolishness and frailty. It was originally published in 1906 as The Cynicâs Word Book before being retitled in 1911. Modern âunabridgedâ versions that include Bierce âdefinitionsâ that were for various reasons missed by earlier editions continue to be popular a century later.
Love your site. He's not a superstar, but you might want to look into the work of Charles Ricketts and the Vale Press. Beautiful books as art, and the artist whom Mr. Beardsley kind of ripped off, as he himself acknowledged. Not that I don't love Mr. B.
Thank you! And thanks for the tip - I will certainly look into his work.
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