Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - July - 2020 Issue

Paper, Ink, Engraving, Printing, Typography, Bookbinding from Susanne Schulz-Falster Rare Books

The book arts from Susanne Schulz-Falster Rare Books.

Susanne Schulz-Falster Rare Books has issued a new catalogue in what is generally referred to as “books about books” or the book arts. The title is Paper, Ink, Engraving, Printing, Typography, Bookbinding. Some are recent artistic creations; others from times long ago. There are numerous sample catalogues from those offering their wares to those who created books. Susanne Schulz-Falster hails from Woodstock, Oxfordshire, UK, perhaps not as well-known internationally as the American Woodstock but way, way older. Not surprisingly, much of the material is British in origin. Here are a few samples of the type of material you will find in this collection.

 

Would you like to know how to marble books? Wouldn't that be an amazing skill! Seriously, what books don't look better when they are marbled? It can make a bad book beautiful. The process involves placing marbling inks on a solution of thickened water called the “size” in a shallow tray. The ink floats on the thickened size. The inks, which can be of one or many colors, are then stirred or raked, whatever you want to create patterns on the surface of the size. Treated paper is then dipped on top of the size, picking up the color patterns, dried, and then used, most commonly for endpapers and covers of a book. The process dates back to 15th century Arabia but did not come into its own in Europe until the 19th century. Instructions may be found in this booklet, The Art of Marbling and Treatment of the New Bronze Colours. A Practical Guide to Marbling by Halfer's Method. Halfer was Josef Halfer who devised an improved method of marbling in the late 19th century. This is a second edition from 1904. Loosely inserted is Halfer's New Marbling Colours. The Normal Size. Two New Inventions of the Greatest Importance for the Art of Marbling (undated). This also includes 26 vibrant color samples of marbling ink. Halfer advanced the process by developing standardized bright colors, and an improved carragheen size that allowed for finer detail in marbling. He touts them here in publications with a marketing side to them. They were published by the Hostman Printing Ink Co. which sold Halfer's 26 colors of ink. Priced at £400 (British pounds, or approximately $493 in U. S. dollars).

 

This is not a typical type specimen book as those are used to sell types. This is a book displaying part of a most impressive collection of types. The title (in French) is Specimen des Types Divers de l'Imprimerie Nationale. Types Etrangers. It displays the various foreign types held by the Imprimerie Nationale. The Imprimerie Nationale (national printer) is the official government printer of France, for centuries having a monopoly on government printing. It has been around a while, founded in 1640 by Cardinal Richelieu at the request of King Louis XIII. Only in the past couple of decades has it become a commercial printer competing in the marketplace. The Imprimerie is known for its extensive collection of types. Schulz-Falster describes it by saying “the range is impressive: from Egyptian hieroglyphics, to various semitic alphabets, Indian alphabets, Chinese characters, not to mention five different versions of Arabic type (in different sizes), a wide variety of Greek characters, and many Latin text and display styles. In most cases the type designer is mentioned.” It was published in 1878. Loosely inserted is an autograph letter by its 19th century director, Barthelemy Haureau, to antiquarian James Darmesteter. £750 (US $926).

 

Here is a book about another state printing house, though the subject matter is quite different. The title is Personalstand der K. K. Hof und Staatsdruckerei, published in 1904. That translates to “the personnel levels of the court and state printing house,” the state being Austria. It was formed in 1804 by Emperor Franz I. This governmental printer was created because the private printers of the day all kept their prices high on government contracts. It employs a proto-Jurgendstil typography, Jurgendstil being the German term for Art Nouveau, a style that became very popular a few years after this book was published in 1904. What the book contains is a listing of all 1,684 employees of the state printing house at that time. It displays their name and date of employment. The names are arranged by job function, such as typesetter, lithographer, photographic specialist, woodcutter, letterpress and lithographic printer. Women workers are listed separately. £350 (US $432).

 

This next one is described as the “classic on the art of bookbinding.” The title is Bibliopegia; or, The Art of Bookbinding. In All Its Branches. This is an 1836 second edition of a book first published the preceding year. The stated author is John Andrews Arnett, but that was a pseudonym for John Hannett. He used his actual name in later editions. It is both a history of the art and a manual of bookbinding practices (as they existed in the early 19th century). It is particularly known as the first illustrated English book on bookbinding. It illustrated the equipment used and describes the techniques of the trade. £400 (US $493).

 

Here is an American book on bookbinding, actually the first American book on the topic. It also covers marbling and other bookmaking subjects. The title, which is also a good description, is A Manual of the Art of Bookbinding: Containing Full Instructions in the Different Branches of Forwarding, Gilding, and Finishing. Also, the Art of Marbling Book-Edges and Paper. The Whole Designed for the Practical Workman, the Amateur and the Book-Collector. The author was James B. Nicholson, the publication date 1856. Much of it was borrowed from Hannett's book, which the author acknowledges, but also contains many of his own contributions. In keeping with its subject matter, the book features gilt lettering on the spine and marbled edges and boards. £500 (US $617).

 

Susanne Schulz-Falster Rare Books may be reached at +44 (1993) 811 100. or susanne@schulz-falster.com. Their website is www.schulz-falster.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000

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