Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2021 Issue

The Artist and the Book in the 19th Century from Ursus Rare Books

The Artist & The Book.

Ursus Rare Books' latest catalogue is titled The Artist & the Book in the 19th Century. These are 19th century books that feature exceptional artwork. Some are beautiful, others designed to be more humorous. There are even a few meant to teach you how to create such masterpieces yourself. While many are designed to provide faithful depictions or even those more beautiful than life, there are a good number which could be described more as surrealistic, even if surrealism did not yet officially exist. These are a few of the books we found in this latest catalogue.

 

We begin with a book illustrated by French artist Gustave Doré, and these images are all too real. The book is London. A Pilgrimage, by Blanchard Jerrold, published in 1872. Jerrold was a journalist and friend of Doré. He asked the artist to accompany him on an exploration of London, not just the good parts but the areas scarred with grinding poverty. They scoured the streets, often with plainclothes police protection. This book shows what they found. David Bland, in his History of the Book, describes this as “Doré's chef d'oeuvre.” He also says, “If one book depicts Dickens' London in all its glory and especially misery, this is it; and it is hard to cite another book of any period which so perfectly defines a time and place in history as this book does.” The contrast between how the classes lived is astonishing. This English edition was the first, preceding the French edition by four years. Item 7. Priced at $3,500.

 

It's unlikely that there is another name as highly regarded for being both an original artist and engraver than that of William Blake. Not that highly regarded during his lifetime, it took many years for his work to be fully appreciated. One man who did recognize his genius during his lifetime was John Linnell and that is most fortunate, as he had the money to commission “Blake's final masterpiece,” which would not have otherwise been possible. Blake needed the money. What he created was Illustrations of the Book of Job, published in 1825, just two years before he died. Blake was long intrigued by the Book of Job, the challenges and suffering of its protagonist. He could see the parallels with his own difficult life. Certainly, anyone who can see parallels with his own life in the Book of Job is not having an easy go. Perhaps he saw Job's rebirth at the end as something he might attain. The book contains 21 engraved plates and an engraved title, all designed and engraved by Blake. This is one of 65 copies on French paper. Ursus explains that most copies are either significantly foxed or have been washed, but this was neither, only having some scattered light foxing. Item 24. $85,000.

 

J. J. Grandville was one of the 19th century's more imaginative artists. He drew characters, including a book where he transformed animals into beings with human attributes, even so far as anthropomorphizing flowers. His images became even stranger as he aged, leading to this book which can be described as his masterpiece, Un Autre Monde. Transformations, Visions, Incarnations... In English that is An Other World, and this book certainly is other worldly. Strange creatures inhabit Grandville's other world. One can readily see his influence in later works such as Tenniel's illustrations for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and in the twentieth century, the surrealist movement. This is surrealistic before there was surrealism. Item 13. $7,500.

 

Here is a book with 11 lithograph hand-colored plates featuring anthropomorphized animals. The title is Les Animaux Parlants (the talking animals), by Mme Louise Leneveux. For example, one plate illustrates a monkey walking a tightrope while watched by a crowd of ducks and birds in human dress. The artist who created these fantastic and amusing images was Louis Lassalle, a 19th century French painter. Neither artist not author are particularly well known. There are some paintings and other illustrated books by Lassalle out there, while Mme Leneveux wrote several other books, including one about talking flowers. Item 31. $1,500.

 

Amédée Varin goes one step further into oddities with this book about humanized vegetables. These drawings are reminiscent of the works of Granville. The book is L'Empire des Légumes. Memoires de Cucurbitas 1 er, recueillis et mis en ordre par Eugène Nus et Antony Meray (The Empire of Vegetables. Memories of Cucurbitas 1st, collected and put in order by Eugène Nus and Antony Meray). The book is also known as Vegetable Drolleries. Nus and Meray were the authors of this satire on human nature. Varin, who also worked with Granville, has given the various vegetables, such as carrots, cabbages, onions, turnips and pumpkins human personalities (naturally, the onion is crying). For those unfamiliar with the classification, cucurbitas is the family of certain gourds and melons, but it is also the name of a character in this book. This first edition was published in 1851. $7,500.

 

Perhaps strangest of all is this book – Viola Tricolor in Picture and Rhyme. This is an 1876 first American edition of a work by prolific artist/author/playwright Franz Graf von Pocci. This is a book filled with humorous nonsense poems. What is unusual is I don't know whether this is so much a book that turns flowers into humans as turns humans into flowers. What von Pocci has done is take otherwise human bodies but replace the heads with pansies, specifically, the viola tricolor species. They have somewhat face-like markings but they are eerie looking faces. This one is bizarre. Item 37. $1,500.

 

Ursus Books may be reached at 212-772-8787 or pkraus@ursusbooks.com. Their website is www.ursusbooks.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • 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

Review Search

Archived Reviews

Ask Questions