Four volumes (25 cm), I (nos. 1-8, 1876-October 1878): (8) xii, 880 (2) pp., 7 colour plates (inserted after pp.598, 618, 652, 686, 714, 794, 816), illustrations. Items 1-4562; priced. Publisher’s printed wrappers bound-in. II (nos. 9-13, June 1879-June 1881): (2) xl, 930 (2) pp., 6 full-page and 2 folding colour plates (after pp.xxviii, xxxiv (2), xxxvii (2), 78, 89, 247), illustrations (some in 2 colours). Items 4563-7880; priced. Publisher’s printed wrappers bound-in. III (nos. 14-19, March 1883-December 1886): (2) 911 (1) pp., leaf of text inserted (after p.1), plate (inserted after p.796), 2 folding colour plates (after pp.52, 100), illustrations (some in 2 colours). Items 7881-11725; priced. Publisher’s printed wrappers bound-in. IV (nos. 20-24, February 1887-January 1889): (2) 1120 pp., 2 leaves of text (inserted after pp.1, 480), 9 plates (inserted after pp.48, 70, 80, 94, 110, 142, 388, 412, 436), illustrations (some in 2 colours). Items 11726-16804. Publisher’s printed wrapper (upper only) bound-in. Uniformly bound in brown buckram, top edges gilt. - The first four volumes (issues 1-24) of a work of enduring utility, seldom found complete (another six volumes were published, describing item nos. 16805-46593). The business was founded by Damascène Morgand and Charles Fatout in 1875. After the death in 1882 of Fatout, the Société Morgand & Fatout was dissolved, and Morgand continued under his name alone, until 1897, when he entered into partnership with Édouard Rahir. The “Bulletin Mensuel No. 8” dated October 1878 apparently is the second bookseller’s catalogue to be illustrated by colour (chromotypographie) plates, following a Librairie Bachelin-Deflorenne catalogue for an auction conducted earlier the same year. Included in volume I are two essays on “Le Marot-Guiffrey”, by E. Schnerb and Paul de Saint-Victor; “Reliures anciennes: reliures modernes”, unsigned; “Variétés bibliographiques: Les Farces de Georges Alione d’Asti”, by Émile Picot. Printed in volume II are essays on “Le Patissier françois des Elzevier”, by L. Potier and Ernest Quentin-Bauchart; a memoir of Trautz-Bauzonnet (1808-1879), unsigned; “Les reliures en mosaïque du XVIIIe siècle”, by “Un Bibliophile” (reprinted from Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1 October 1879); “Deux reliures en mosaïque du XVIII siècle de la Bibliothèque de Comte d’Hoym” by Baron J. Pichon; “Les Daphnis et Chloé du Régent: reliés en mosaïque”, unsigned. A printed leaf inserted before “Bulletin Mensuel No. 20” announces that all the books described therein are from Henri Beraldi’s catalogue Bibliothèque d’un bibliophile (1885), i.e. the library of Eugène Paillet. A similar notice inserted before “Bulletin Mensuel No. 22” announces that the books described therein are all from the library of Baron Gonzagues de St. Geniès. ¶ Paper occasionally brittle; a clean tear in II, pp.853-854, has caused no loss.
Thirty catalogues (21-22 cm), of which 25 are bound in two volumes (1-16, 18-26), contemporary half-morocco (original wrappers preserved), and five are as issued in the publisher’s printed wrappers. - A good run of catalogues issued by Wilfred Michael Voynich (1865-1930), lacking just four in the series (17, 30, 33-34). Voynich’s “Short catalogues” (the term “short” was dropped for nos. 22-34) continued a series of nine, consecutively-paginated “Lists” which he issued between 1898 and 1902. Rare: “The British Library has a run of the nine Lists, and patchy holdings between catalogues 15 and 34” (David Pearson, Provenance research in book history: a handbook, London 1994, p.169). Cf. Arnold Hunt, “Foreign dealers in the English trade” in Out of print & into profit: a history of the rare and secondhand book trade inBritain in the Twentieth century (London 2006), esp. pp.247-253. ¶ Paper of several catalogues heavily browned. Bindings worn, but sound.
(32 cm), (4) 95 (1) pp., 50 plates. 378 items. Publisher’s printed wrappers. ¶ Paper worn across foot of the spine, small losses; a fine, unmarked copy.
Twenty-nine volumes (20.5 cm), as issued, in publisher’s printed wrappers. - Percy Mordaunt Barnard (1868-1941), commenced his bookselling career in Saffron Walden, but by 1907 had moved to Royal Tunbridge Wells, where he remained for the rest of his career. He sold the Vernon Dante Collection to the John Rylands Library, in March 1914; a collection of deeds concerning the Kemeys family had been sold to the National Library of Wales a year earlier. In 1928, he was elected President of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association. Unlike most booksellers’ catalogues of the period, Barnard provides thorough descriptions of bindings and often provenance details. Sotheby’s sold “a selected portion of the valuable stock of Mr. P.M. Barnard (of Tunbridge Wells, who is retiring from business as a general bookseller)” on 7 May 1934. ¶ Some wrappers worn across the back; staples rusted.
(24 cm), pp.345-468 (continues pagination of Heft 1), plates 76-145 (1 in colour, several folding). Items 707-1146; priced. Publisher’s printed wrappers. - Catalogue of German (item nos. 707-931), English (nos. 933-955), French (956-1085), Italian (1086-1125), other European (and non-Western) bookbindings (1126-1142), reference books (143-1146). Includes Adolf Schmidt, “Zwei Frankfurter Buchbinder zu Ende des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts”, describing the bindings of Thomas Drechsler (Drexel) and Velten Fischer (plates 76-77). ¶ Paper worn across spine; otherwise a well-preserved copy.
London, E.P. Goldschmidt & Company Limited, 1923-1992
Comprehensive collection of the Catalogues, Supplements, Lists, and Book Fair Lists, issued by E.P. Goldschmidt & Company Ltd, 1923-1992. Included are an unbroken run of the firm’s Catalogues (numbered series, 1-172), a complete set of Supplements (numbered series, 1-18), a substantial numbers of Lists (21, of 33 issued), and Book Fair Lists (1975-1992). Our collection is as comprehensive as the firm’s own reference sets, the first sold by Christie’s, The Stock and reference library of E.P. Goldschmidt and Co. Ltd, 8-9 July 1993, lot 437, £3850 (Catalogues 1-155 only, with 61 and 82 in photocopy; and 16 Lists only); the second by Christie’s South Kensington, 31 January 1997, lot 124, £6200 (Catalogues 1-171, the final catalogue 172 absent; and 26 Lists only). Our collection is superior to one offered by Christie’s, London, 12 November 2008, lot 137, £3000 (Catalogues 1-168 only, with 2, 4, 62 in facsimile; 9 Lists only). A set offered in 1994 by Paul Breman (Catalogue 164, item 29, £2650), heralded as “probably the largest set of Goldschmidt catalogues ever offered for sale”, lacked fourteen Catalogues and fifteen Lists; another, offered by Jonathan Hill (Catalogue 87, 1995, item 340, $4000), lacked 14 Catalogues, 4 Supplements, and numerous Lists. The series of numbered catalogues is attractively bound in 19 volumes, half-morocco (except for last five catalogues, still in original wrappers); the Supplements, Lists, Stock Lists, and Book Fair Lists are as issued, housed in two matching half-morocco boxes. ¶ Very attractive set.
Milan (latterly Florence), R. Lier & Co. (latterly R.A.T. Lier), 1923-1954
Twenty-seven catalogues and ephemera (various formats). - A fine series of Reinhard Lier’s very rare catalogues, comprising the complete set of Early Medical Books (Parts I-X and New Series I-II, bound in two volumes by Esther Potter, quarter-cloth), catalogues of Old Science and Medicine (6 catalogues), Bulletins (5 catalogues), Lists, and some publications hors série. ¶ Unmarked copies, mostly in very good condition.
Eleven catalogues (22 or 25 cm), in the publisher’s printed wrappers, as issued. - In 1924 Graham Pollard (1903-1976) bought from the writer David Garnett (1892-1981) his share in Birrell and Garnett, entering into a partnership with the journalist Francis Birrell (1889-1935), and Ralph Wright. In 1927, the business was reorganised as a limited company, with Jane E. Norton (1893-1962), the bibliographer of Gibbon, as chairman, and Pollard as managing director; Frances Marshall (later Frances Partridge) was secretary. Pollard’s bibliographic interests were English literature, the history of the newspaper, and early printing, especially writing books; Norton’s were economic theory, and social conditions of the early nineteenth century. The company went into voluntary liquidation in March 1939. “The numbering of the Birrell & Garnett catalogues is eccentric. A complete set should contain 45 catalogues. The type specimen catalogue is unnumbered but occupies the position of 21. There is no catalogue numbered 36. The cookery catalogue, which should have been 36, was numbered 37 by mistake. Economic Theory, is also numbered 37. There are also two numbered 44, Newspaper Catalogue and Books and some Autograph Letters.” (Esther Potter, “Graham Pollard at work” in The Library, sixth series, volume 11, 1989, p.311 note 12). ¶ Some wrappers dust-soiled; staples rusted.
Seventy-seven catalogues (21 cm), as issued, in the publisher’s wrappers. - A good run comprising seventy-three catalogues and four stock lists. J. Irving Davis (1889-1967) and Giuseppe “Pino” Orioli (1884-1942) commenced bookselling together in Florence in 1910-1911, and in 1913 established premises in London, where they inaugurated a “new series” of catalogues. Though the name of the firm remained unchanged, Davis soon became sole proprietor, with Orioli residing in Italy, where he worked mostly as a publisher. The firm’s last catalogue (no. 170) was issued in 1965; Davis died on 1 May 1967 (obituary by H.A. Feisenberger, in The Book Collector, Autumn 1967, pp.369-371). The residue of Davis’ stock was offered by Sotheby’s in 1968-1969 (principal sale on 2 December 1968, 305 lots); the remainder was sold there on 2 April 1985 (519 lots). ¶ Many catalogues in the present group are from the reference collection of Hellmut Feisenberger (1909-1999), Davis’ junior partner in the firm from c. 1935-1947, editor of sixty catalogues (nos.64-125). Feisenberger recorded on the catalogue covers items of interest, in pencil or pen; occasionally he corrects a collation, or supplies additional provenance details, or identifies a purchaser - as for example in Catalogue 140 (item 16a), where he writes: “from me / sold to him £37.10”. Paper stocks available during the War generally were of poor quality; in some catalogues, the pages edges are browned, and in one (Catalogue 89) the entire leaf has browned. Staples are often rusted; specific faults are mentioned below.
Four volumes (23.5 cm), set of four consecutively-paginated catalogues of medical books, as issued, in publisher’s printed wrappers. - The firm was founded in 1889 by Julius H. Halle and was continued after his death (aged 63, on 9 December 1927) by his widow Ida Halle; it was liquidated in 1935. The excellent descriptions were prepared by Ernst Schulte-Strathaus (1881-1968); the last catalogue may have involved Emil Offenbacher, who was apprenticed to the firm from 1931-1933. A projected fifth part offering “Portraits of eminent physicians” was abandoned; in its place, a catalogue with provisional title “V: Medicina occulta: Alchemy, Astrology, Physiognomics, Chiromancy, Magics, Miraculous cures, Mnemotechny” was scheduled, to be followed by “VI: Supplement, biographics, portraits: Index of the whole catalogue”. Neither ever appeared, and the series is complete in four parts as offered here.
Offered with [Stock catalogues, numbered series: 51] Alchemie: Metallurgie - Kräuterbücher [at head of title:] Geheime Wissenschaften 1. Munich: J. Halle, 1924. (23.5 cm), 62 pp., 2 illustrations (title-page and cover). 345 items; priced. Publisher’s printed wrappers. ¶ Wrappers dust-soiled.
(24 cm), 208 pp., cxvi p. of plates, illustrations. 311 items; priced. Collector’s beige cloth binding, black skiver lettering-piece (original wrappers bound in). ¶ Covers and a few pages at end foxed.
(26 cm), viii, 146 (6) pp. 850 items; priced. Inserted leaf: “Die folgenden Nummern dieses Katalog sind während des Sommers 1928 auf der Internationalen Presseausstellung in Köln a. Rh. ausgestellt”. Publisher’s printed wrappers. - Includes essay “Aus der Welt der neuen Zeitung” by Dr Karl d’Ester (1881-1960), Professor of Zeitungswissenschaften, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität. Elisabeth Angermair, Die Rosenthals (Vienna 2002), p.244. ¶ Unmarked copy. Wrapper dust-soiled, paper worn across the back, other minor defects.
(28.5 cm), vii (5), 107 (1) pp., illustrations. Publisher’s light brown printed wrappers. - A faultless copy of the original edition, limited to 1750 copies on ordinary paper and 75 on special paper, printed by Walter Lewis at the University Press in Cambridge. “This is far more than a bookseller’s catalogue. It was and still is a pioneer disquisition on the history of type-specimens and type-design with valuable historical notes on each example listed. A first-rate reference-work” (E.P. Goldschmidt, in his Catalogue 95, p.63 item 371). A reprint was published at Brighton: Tony Appleton, 1972 (edition of 500 copies). ¶ Loosely inserted is a typed letter from Terry Belanger to Robin Halwas, dated 12 May 1981, with appended Ms note by Esther Potter, dated 3 June 1982, the latter writing: “After Birrell & Garnett was wound up Graham was left with a pile of these catalogues and he occasionally sold the odd copy to the trade. When the pile was exhausted, Tony Appleton, with Graham’s permission produced a facsimile edition. And then Graham, to his great embarrassment found an unopened packet of the originals in the attic at Barton”. In Belanger’s letter, he recounts that Michael Turner (Pollard’s literary executor) had given Belanger four such copies, of which this is one.
Four volumes (28 cm), in the publisher’s printed wrappers. - The celebrated catalogue XII: Catalogue de reliures du XVe au XIXe siècle (1930) is offered here in the unillustrated issue. ¶ Wrappers decayed and damaged.
Four parts (24 cm), I (Catalogue 508; 1928): 200 pp., xxiv p. of plates, illustrations. 500 items; priced. II (Catalogue 534, 1930): 149 (8) pp., xvi p. of plates, illustrations. Items 501-1000; priced. III (Catalogue 585, 1933): 248 (11) pp., xliv p. of plates, illustrations. Items 1001-1956; priced. IV (Catalogue 654, 1938): 215 (13) pp., 20 plates, illustrations. Items 1960-3000; priced. Parts I-II in a collector’s cloth binding (original wrappers bound in); parts III-IV in publisher’s printed wrappers. - “A valuable contribution to naval and nautical literature. The entries are chronological, and the full index greatly aids reference, while the long bibliographical and historical notes often extend to learned essays” (from a review of parts I-II in The Times Literary Supplement, 20 February 1930, p.148). Compiled by Frank Maggs (1898-1965). ¶ Wrappers of Parts III-IV dust-soiled; one wrapper torn (Part III).
(24.5 cm), (2) 204 (8) pp., frontispiece and 9 leaves of plates (pls.I-XVII, some printed in red & black, pl.XI folding), text illustrations. 410 items; priced. Publisher’s printed wrappers. - The Dialogus creaturarum moralizatus (Gouda: Gerard Leeu, 3 June 1480) is the Thomas Grenville copy (item 65, £275); the Caxton imprint is a copy of Burlaeus, De vita et moribus philosophorum ([Cologne: Johann Schilling, for William Caxton, about 1472]), in contemporary stamped calf (item 204, £125); the Conradus Sweynheym and Arnoldus Pannartz imprint is Leo I, Sermones (Rome, after 21 September 1470), in limp vellum (item 290, £250). ¶ Wrapper worn across spine; otherwise a very good, unmarked copy.