Catalogues
Bound In Vellum
Vellum, a term often found in bibliophilic writings, generally, refers to an animal skin, usually calf, which is employed as a writing / printing surface or as a book's binding. It is this latter use to which we focus this week’s offerings… 15 items, most pre-1800, that are bound in vellum.
Recently Shelved
A hearty hello this Tuesday morning from Tavistock Books! Since our last list 2 weeks ago, I continue unpacking & cataloguing, such that in that 2 week period I’ve shelved approximately 300 volumes from which I selected 15 to comprise this week’s list of offerings. You’ll find our usual eclectic mix, from Architecture to Doyle, from America to Africa, etc., etc.
By & About Women
In this week’s Tavistock Books FS list, we focus on the fairer sex, so you’ll find 20 items by & about women… some of whom are quite well known, others deserving of greater attention... some fiction, some factual, but all unified by a connection to a woman. Publication dates range from the 17th C to the 20th, with price points starting at a modest $25 for a Mrs Barbauld’s children’s title, to $9500 for an 1831 edition of Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN.
Wing Books
“Wing Books.” Most bibliophiles, when seeing a citation such as “Wing W-3755”, realize that refers to an entry in Donald Wing’’s 4 volume work, The SHORT-TITLE CATALOGUE of Books Printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, British America and of English Books Printed in Other Countries 1641 - 1700. The 2nd edition is preferred, published by the MLA, 1994 - 1998. In a recent search of my website, using the key word ‘Wing’, 58 titles popped out. And while there were outliers such as number 16 in this week’s list of offerings, 42 of the 58 titles will be found in Donald Wing’s reference. This week we offer 21 of those 42.
Enjoy.
A Stereoview Miscellany
This week's FS List features a very specific genre of photography… the stereoview. Essentially, the stereoview card presents 2 two-dimensional photographic images, depicting left-eye and right-eye views of the same scene, that when viewed through a stereoscope, is seen as a single three-dimensional image. Stereographic imaging first came on the scene in the 1830s. By the 1850s, the device was beginning to enjoy widespread popularity, with even Queen Victoria expressing her approbation on seeing a demonstration at the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition. In the 1860s, the viewer came within financial reach the ‘common man’, when Oliver Wendell Holmes invented a hand-held stereoscope. People, with this more economically-priced viewer, could now travel the world from the comfort of their own parlor [see our #6 for a trip through Italy].
So here offered are 21 such examples, most a single view, from such industry leaders as Houseworth, Underwood & Underwood, Keystone & Ingersoll. Subject matter varies from San Francisco’s Chinatown to a Los Angeles Bee Ranch, from Expedition of 1871 to Hydraulic Mining in Oregon; dates of issue range from the 1860s to the early 1900s.
A July Jumble of Books
My Funk & Wagnalls defines “jumble” as "an untidy collection”, which best describes that comprising this week’s FS offerings… 15 ‘jumbled’ together titles, some new, some not so new, acquisitions… this ‘untidy collection' ranges from the Arctic to “Galaxies Far, Far Away”, from Freddy the Pig to Samuel Johnson, from Buntline to Dickens… so see, a true “Jumble”!
And as is our practice, price points vary from 2-figures to 4-figures.
Should you favor us with your time in perusing same, we hope you are pleased with your browse. If questions arise as a result, happy to answer same, and, of course, equally happy to take your order, should, paraphrasing William, “browsing turn to buying.”
Enjoy.
V.
A Dickens Miscellany
This past June 9th marked the 154th anniversary of the passing of England’s greatest novelist, Charles Dickens. Achieving fame at the young age of 24 with the publication of his debut novel, Pickwick Papers, he continued to entertain the world with his prose throughout the remainder of his life. And that public readership continues till today, with all of his works remaining in print. For the collectors of his oeuvre, which are many, finding 1st editions are relatively easy, for his the bulk of his books were published in the tens of thousands. What may challenge the Dickens collector are those -iana items that were issued in significantly lesser quantities. To celebrate this great man’s memory, Tavistock Books just issued a list of 20 such items, which may be seen by clicking on the accompanying link.
Enjoy.