The Leaf Book Collection of Stephen J. Farber by Hindman Auctions

FINE PRINTED BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS, INCLUDING AMERICANA

The Leaf Book Collection of Stephen J. Farber | Lots 56-83

SALE 6330

May 8, 2025 | 10:00am CT Lots 1-258

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FL AB3688 | GA AU-C003121 | IL 444.000521 OH 2019000131 | PA AY002247

FREEMAN’S HINDMAN

[LEAF BOOK - ALDINE PRESS]. Aldus Pius Manutius. With an essay by Theodore Low De Vinne together with a leaf from the Aldine Hypnerotomachia Poliphili printed at Venice in 1499. San Francisco: Grabhorn Press for The Book Club of California, 1924.

Small folio. With an original leaf from Colonna’s Hypnerotomachia Poliphili bound in on stub. Original cloth-backed boards, printed paper cover label, uncut.

LIMITED EDITION, number 80 of 192 copies that included original leaves, from a total edition of 250. This copy, comprising: a single leaf, printed in Venice by Aldus Manutius for Leonardus Crassus, December 1499, superchancery folio (295 x 197mm), sig. t8 (pagination “156” in an early hand), half-page woodcut diagram attributed to Benedetto Bordon. Goff C-767; ISTC ic00767000.

THE FIRST LEAF BOOK PRODUCED BY THE BOOK CLUB OF CALIFORNIA. The Club chose Aldine’s Hypnerotomachia Poliphili for its inaugural publication which has “long been admired for its design, it has also been a puzzle for those who have tried to identify its author and unravel the meaning of the text” (Joel Silver, “Catalog of the Exhibition,”: in Disbound and Dispersed 8). The price of a copy varied with the quality and desirability of the included leaf, the most expensive ($15 or more) being a leaf containing a woodcut. Chalmers, Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 22.

$300 - 400

[LEAF BOOK - ALDINE PRESS]. BARKER, Nicolas. Aldus Manutius and the Development of Greek Script & Type in the Fifteenth Century with original leaves from the Aldine editions of Aristotle, 1797; Crastonus’ Dictionarium Graecum, 1497; Euripides, 1503; and the Septuagint, 1518. Sandy Hook, CT: Chiswick Book Shop, 1985.

Small folio. With 4 original leaves printed by Aldine, tipped in. Original gilt-lettered red cloth; publisher’s slipcase.

LIMITED EDITION, one of 200 copies, WITH 4 ORIGINAL LEAVES FROM FIRST ALDINE EDITIONS of Aristotle, 1497; Crastonus’ Dictionarium Graecum, 1497; Euripides, 1503; and the Septuagint, 1518.

“[This work] is one of the most intellectually significant of modern leaf books. It included four leaves, each printed in one of four Aldine Greek types” (Joel Silver, “Exhibition of the Catalog,” in Disbound and Dispersed 36). In his preface, Barker admits that leaf books are not a genre he was interested in but “the idea of bringing together all four of the Aldine Greeks, however, has a special appeal. It cannot be done in nature, so to speak: there is no book in which all four appear together. Besides, they represent such a fascinating progression in terms of letter-design that the chance of exploring them in detail was not to be refused.” Chalmers, Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 184.

$600 - 800

[LEAF BOOK - BIBLES]. The American Bible. Original Leaves from Rare and Historic Bibles Printed in the Colonies and the United States of America During the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries. Michael Zinman, compiler. San Francisco: Andrew Hoyem at the Arion Press for; Ardsley, NY: Haydn Foundation for the Cultural Arts, 1993.

4 volumes, large folio (559 x 356 mm). With 38 original leaves from American bibles, each tipped in and matted with printed captions; accompanied by bibliographical descriptions and commentary, loose as issued; together laid into four folding cloth cases with red morocco lettering-pieces on spines and covers. [Laid in:] Original prospectus booklet.

LIMITED EDITION, number 20 of 100 copies, CONTAINING 38 ORIGINAL LEAVES FROM BIBLES PRINTED IN AMERICA BETWEEN 1663 AND 1878.

“This landmark publication presents, for the first time, the history of the Bible in America through a display of thirty-eight original leaves from the most precious and significant editions of the Scriptures printed in the present geographical area of the United States” (from the prospectus).

Comprises: 8 leaves from the Bible in Indigenous Languages including the 1663 Eliot Bible (the first in any language printed in America); 10 leaves from the Bible in English from the 18th century including the 1782 Aitken Bible (the first complete English-language Bible printed in America); 10 leaves from the Bible in English from the 19th century including the first bible printed for the blind in America (1842); and 10 leaves from the first American Bibles printed in other languages including the first Bible in German (1742). Not in Disbound and Dispersed.

$2,000 - 3,000

[LEAF BOOK - BOOK OF MORMON]. The First Mormon Book. A Celebration of the 1830 Book of Mormon with an Original Leaf. Salt Lake City: Benchmark Books, 2000.

Small 4to. With an original leaf from Joseph Smith’s 1830 Book of Mormon (pp. 411-412, “Book of Helaman”) laid in. Original black calf-backed cloth, uncut; publisher’s slipcase.

LIMITED EDITION, one of 44 copies of the “deluxe edition,” this being the binder’s proof, from a total edition of 290.

“When the Grolier Club included the 1830 Book of Mormon in its famous 1946 exhibition of one hundred influential American books, the Book of Mormon had been published in nineteen languages, and the followers of Joseph Smith numbered about one million. Fifty-four years later, at the end of the twentieth century, the complete book is in print in forty-five languages, abridged editions are available in forty-six others, and those who venerate it as scripture exceed ten million” (from the Essay by Peter Crawley). Joel Silver, “Catalog of the Exhibition,” in: Disbound and Dispersed, item 45; Chalmers Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 220.

$400 - 600

[LEAF BOOK]. -- [CAXTON, William (ca 1422-1491 or 1492)].

CHAUCER, Geoffrey (d. 1400). “Man of Law’s Tale.” Extracted from: The Canterbury Tales. Westminster: William Caxton, 1476.

Single leaf, chancery folio (235 x 185). Folio 82 (pagination “155” in pencil, probably by Lord Ashburnham), 29 lines (58 total), bastarda 2:135 type. Provenance: Fourth Earl of Ashburnham, his third copy sold at Sotheby’s 9 May 1898, lot 4061 (Christie’s census 23, see Wentworth sale catalogue, London 8 July 1998, p. 28); sold, at Christie’s, 11 December 2001, lot 431.

A LEAF CONTAINING A SIGNIFICANT PASSAGE FROM “MAN OF LAW’S TALE,” incipit: “Of one she knoweth not the condition?” and ending with “And when assembled was this folk in-feere” (comprising lines 271-328). In this section, the Man of Law’s Tale discusses arranged marriages, women’s subordination, and medieval belief in astrology (“Of one she knoweth not the condition / Hosbondis been alle goode and have be yore / That knowe wyvys I dar sey nomore... / Wommen are born to thraldom & to penance / And to be under manys governance... / That cruel marce hath slayn this marriage... / O Marce o atazir as in this case / O feble mone unhappy be thy paas.” The saintly Constance is preparing to meet her husband, an unknown sultan.

THE FOUNDATIONAL TEXT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE: A LEAF FROM THE FIRST EDITION OF THE CANTERBURY TALES, PRINTED BY WILLIAM CAXTON, ENGLAND’S FIRST PRINTER. The leaf was originally from Lord Ashburnham’s incomplete copy of the Canterbury Tales (sold at Sotheby’s, May 1898), the Caxton Club acquiring 148 leaves for this edition. De Ricci’s census of Caxtons 22; Duff 87; GW 6585; Goff C-431; ISTC ic00431000; cf. Mosser census of Caxton leaves in: Disbound and Dispersed

[Laid into:] DUFF, E. Gordon. William Caxton. Chicago: The Caxton Club, 1905. 4to. Illustrated. Original cloth-backed boards, printed spine label, uncut; remnants of publisher’s slipcase. LIMITED EDITION, one of 150 copies, containing a leaf from Caxton’s Chaucer loosely inserted in rear pocket.

Disbound and Dispersed, A Leaf Book Considered was a traveling exhibition commemorating the centenary of the Caxton Club’s publication of this leaf book about the life and work of William Caxton. “It was the first leaf book devoted to Caxton, and it is sought today not only by those collectors who wish to own an example from the most famous work produced by England’s first printer, but also by those who would like to add the Chicago-based club’s most famous publication to their own libraries”

(Joel Silver, “Catalog of the Exhibition,” in Disbound and Dispersed 6).

$6,000 - 8,000

[LEAF BOOK]. -- [CAXTON, William (ca 1422-1491 or 1492)].

An Original Leaf from the Polycronicon Printed by William Caxton at Westminster in the Year 1482. San Francisco: The Grabhorn Press for The Book Club of California, 1938.

4to. With an original leaf from Caxton’s Polycronicon tipped in. Original linenbacked boards; dust jacket (spine and fore-corners chipped with losses).

LIMITED EDITION, one of 297 unnumbered copies. WITH AN ORIGINAL LEAF FROM THE MOST INFLUENTIAL UNIVERSAL HISTORY IN BRITAIN IN THE 14TH AND 15 CENTURIES, comprising: a single leaf, printed in Westminster by William Caxton between 2 July and 20 November 1482, chancery folio (254 x 178 mm), from Liber Sextus CCCXV, several single-line rubrications. Goff H267; ISTC ih00267000; Pforzheimer 489.

Although not as sought after as Caxton’s printing of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, interest in this leaf book remained high, and it sold out before publication. cf. Joel Silver, “Catalog of the Exhibition,” in: Disbound and Dispersed 16.

$800 - 1,200 62

[LEAF BOOK - COVERDALE BIBLE]. A Leaf from the First Edition of the First Complete Bible in English, The Coverdale Bible 1535...and a Census of Copies Recorded in the British Isles and North America. San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1974.

Small folio. With an original leaf from the 1535 Coverdale Bible. Original pictorial two-tone cloth; original plain black dust jacket (light chipping).

LIMITED EDITION, one of 400 copies, WITH AN ORIGINAL LEAF FROM THE 1535 COVERDALE BIBLE: a single leaf, 314 x 197 mm, text in double columns, black letter, sig. 3A3, 7 small manicules in an early hand, some underlining also in an early hand, small corner tear not affecting letters.

FROM THE FIRST WHOLE BIBLE IN ENGLISH. “The Coverdale Bible of 1535 has been, and continues to be, especially coveted by collectors. Scarce and very expensive, it is a natural subject for a leaf book” (Joel Silver, “Catalog of the Exhibition,” in: Disbound and Dispersed 33).

$600 - 800

[LEAF BOOK]. [EGE, Otto F. (1888-1951), editor]. Original Leaves from Famous Books, Eight Centuries 1240 A.D.-1923 A.D. 13th-20th centuries. Cleveland: Otto F. Ege, ca 1923.

Folio. With 25 original manuscript and printed leaves, each hinged to uniform card window with printed slips; annotated index laid in; loose in orange cloth portfolio with ties as issued (one tie detached at laid in).

LIMITED EDITION, number 8 of 110 copies, WITH 25 LEAVES FROM FAMOUS BOOKS, including: a 1240 Vulgate Bible manuscript on vellum with rubricated initials and flourishes; Aristotle’s 1365 Nichomachean Ethics manuscript on vellum; a Livy 1436 manuscript on vellum; Dante’s 1491 Divine Comedy; Shakespeare’s 1685 Fourth Folio; and others in various sizes. Complete list available upon request.

As a professor at the Cleveland Institute of Art and lecturer at Case Western Reserve University, Otto Ege developed a passion for fine printing and calligraphy. Over several decades, he systematically dismantled approximately 50 illuminated medieval manuscripts, creating 40 unique “Otto Ege Portfolios” containing individual pages. Ege justified his controversial practice by arguing that it allowed more people to experience and own pieces of medieval art and literary heritage. His actions, while profitable, have been both criticized and studied by scholars, leading to efforts to digitally reconstruct the dismantled books. In 2015, Ege’s personal collection, including 50 unbroken manuscript books, was acquired by the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University. Chalmers, Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 21.

$1,500 - 2,500

[LEAF BOOK]. [ELIOT, John (1604-1690)]. The First American Bible. A Leaf from a Copy of the Bible translated into the Indian Language by John Eliot and printed at Cambridge in New England in the Year 1663. Boston: D.B. Updike at The Merrymount Press for Charles E. Goodspeed and Company, 1929.

Small 8vo. With an original leaf from Eliot’s Indian Bible bound in on a stub. Original gilt-paneled dark brown cloth, top edge gilt. Provenance: Horace Edward Thomas (bookplate pasted over former owner’s bookplate).

LIMITED EDITION, one of 157 copies, CONTAINING AN ORIGINAL LEAF FROM THE 1663 ELIOT INDIAN BIBLE (modern foliation “N4” in pencil) in the Algonkian language.

“The Eliot Indian Bible is an icon of American printing, and though few today can read it with understanding, it remains one of the most sought-after productions of the early American press and one of the most evocative colonial books” (Joel Silver, “Catalog of the Exhibition,” in: Disbound and Dispersed 11).

$600 - 800

[LEAF BOOK - THE FOLIOPHILES]. Specimens of Woodcuts and Engravings. New York: The Foliophiles, 1926.

Small folio. 15 original leaves with woodcuts and engravings, each laid in to printed folders; loose in original folding box as issued (few small splits to corner of lid).

LIMITED EDITION, number 98 of 120 copies comprising 15 original leaves with woodcuts and copper engravings from: Sebastian Brant’s Navis Stultifera [“Ship of Fools”], 1506. -- Hortus Sanitatis, 1517. -- Livy’s Quatorze Decadas, 1520. -- Biblia Picturis Illustrata, 1540. -- Belon’s De Aquatilibus, 1553. -- Munster’s Cosmographia Universalis, 1559. -- Bocchi’s Symbolicarum Quaetionum, 1574. -- Missale Romanum, 1576. -- Livy in German, 1596. -- History of the Dacian Wars, 1616. -- Mexia’s Nuova Seconda Selva, 1616. -- English Bible, 1639. -- Briefve Histoire de L’Institution, 1680. -- True Effigies of the Most Eminent Painters, 1694. -- La Sicilia di Filippo Paruta, 1697. Chalmers, Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 25.

$600 - 800

66 [LEAF BOOK - GRABHORN PRESS]. SCHULZ, H.C. The Gothic Script of the Middle Ages... Together with an original leaf from a Gothic Manuscript Collectar. San Francisco: David Magee at the Grabhorn Press, 1939.

Small 4to. With an original 14th century illuminated manuscript leaf on vellum, laid in (formerly tipped in). Original silk boards (slightly bowed).

LIMITED EDITION, one of 71 copies, WITH AN ORIGINAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT LEAF: 241 x 165 mm, single leaf from a collectar, late 14th century, probably in Northern France, , on vellum, ruled in light brown for one column of 11 lines, in Latin written in alternating dark brown and red ink in a formal gothic bookhand, rubrics in red and blue, 2-line initials in both burnished gold and blue with a background of blue and red flourishes.

Chalmers, Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 83.

$400 - 600

[LEAF BOOK - GRABHORN PRESS]. [HEYWOOD, John (ca 1497-1580)]. The Spider and the Flie with an original leaf from the edition of 1556. San Francisco: John Magee at the Grabhorn Press, 1939.

Small 8vo. With an original leaf from Heywood’s The Spider and the Flie tipped in Original marbled wrappers, red printed paper cover label.

LIMITED EDITION, one of 55 copies, containing an original leaf from Heywood’s The Spider and the Flie (1556), this copy with a full-page woodcut depicting a scholar seated next to a window with a large fly trapped in a spider’s web.

Heywood’s The Spider and the Flie is an allegorical poem that reflects the socio-political and religious tensions of Tudor England. The work, comprising over 6,000 lines of verse, presents a conflict between two factions: the Spiders, symbolizing Protestant reformers, and the Flies, representing Catholics. Through this extended metaphor, Heywood critiques the Reformation’s impact on England, advocating for Catholicism and expressing concerns over the Protestant ascendancy. Chalmers, Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 81.

$300 - 400

[LEAF BOOK - GUTENBERG]. Gutenberg and the Catholicon of 1460. A bibliographical essay by Margaret Bingham Stillwell. Together with an original leaf of the Catholicon. New York: Edmond B. Hackett for The Brick Row Book Shop, 1936.

Folio. With an original leaf from Joannes Balbus’s Catholicon inserted as issued in inner back board. Original blindstamped crimson buckram with gilt-lettering on upper cover, stamp-signed by Krumin; chemise and slipcase (some splits along edge of slipcase, chemise torn at foot). Provenance: Brooklyn Public Library (perforated stamps, bookplate). [With:] original prospectus.

LIBRARY EDITION, CONTAINING: a single leaf, printed in Mainz by Johann Gutenberg in 1460, royal folio (368 x 311 mm), ff. 240, rubricated singleinitials, sheet without watermark (but on Bull’s Head paper). Provenance of the original incomplete copy of the Catholicon which this leaf was extracted from listed on the prospectus: Sir Hans Sloane (prior to 1753); acquired by the Trustees of the British Museum in 1804; deaccessioned to Henry W. Poor; sold, his sale, November 1908; purchased by Alvin W. Krech. ISTC ib00020000 (issue a [priority established], conforming with the copy held at the Biblioèque de Sainte-Geneviève).

In Librarians Are Human: Memories in and out of the Book World 1907-1970 (Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1970), Stillwell describes the circumstances of the publication: “This work Mr. Hackett planned to offer to libraries throughout the country, well in advance of the anniversary. His idea was that armed with this book the librarians, in planning and setting up their exhibitions in honor [sic] Gutenberg, would be able to display a handsome book about him, together with one or two original leaves...”

Stillwell was a prominent figure in the field of incunabula and served as the librarian at the Annmary Brown Memorial in Providence, Rhode Island. Her accompanying “extensive essay...includes a current census of copies of the Catholicon, [that] is far more bibliographically detailed than most other essays included in leaf books...” (Joel Silver, “Catalog of the Exhibition,” in: Disbound and Dispersed, item 15.) Chalmers Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 70.

$2,000 - 3,000

[LEAF BOOKS - KELMSCOTT PRESS]. A Leaf from the Kelmscott Chaucer with an Essay on its Commercial History. With an Essay by John Windle. San Francisco: The Arion Press, 1984.

Folio (425 x 286 mm). Bifolium with an original leaf inserted (some bleed-through from printed red text); loose as issued in linen-backed portfolio (some light soiling).

LIMITED EDITION, number 31 of 100 copies signed by Windle, WITH AN ORIGINAL OPENING TEXT LEAF from Troilus and Criseyde, Book III with accompanying woodcut illustration by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. Called “the finest book since Gutenberg” (Franklin, The Private Presses, p.192), the Kelmscott Chaucer was printed in Morris’s own Chaucer and Troy types. Chalmers 208.

[With:] Another copy. LIMITED EDITION, number 85 of 100 copies, with an original leaf of text representing the opening verses of The Monk’s Tale with 10-line initials or smaller.

[With]: WALSDORF, Jack. On Collecting William Morris: A Memoir. Kirkwood, MO: The Printery, 2006. 8vo. Original quarter crushed morocco with printed boards patterned after Kelmscott vine designs; publisher’s slipcase. LIMITED EDITION, number 29 of 69 copies with an original leaf from Child Christopher (Hammersmith: The Kelmscott Press, 1895) representing a portion of chapter XVI with three-line initials.

$500 - 700

70 [LEAF BOOK - KELMSCOTT PRESS]. PIRAGES, Phillip. Letters from the 15th Century. On the Origins of the Kelmscott Chaucer Typeface. A study, with specimen leaves, of the influence of the early German printers on William Morris’ masterpiece. McMinnville, OR: Printed for the Author, 2019.

Large traycase portfolio comprising: 5 original leaves, including one from the Kelmscott Chaucer (1896); and a text volume, 8vo, in original Kelmscott imitation limp vellum with linen ties.

LIMITED EDITION, number VII of 47 copies of the text volume bound in flexible vellum, of a total edition of 165. Each of these 47 copies contains a Kelmscott Chaucer leaf with a woodcut scene designed by Edward BurneJones (this copy with the opening of The Romaunt of the Rose).

Called “the finest book since Gutenberg” (Franklin, The Private Presses, p. 192), the Kelmscott Chaucer was printed in Morris’s own Chaucer and Troy types, which in turn were heavily influenced by 15th century typefaces as designed by various printers throughout Europe during the earliest years of the printing press. In addition to the Kelmscott Chaucer leaf, the present work also comprises leaves from de Lyra’s Postilla super totam Bibliam as printed by Johann Mentelin (1472), Bernard of Clairvaux’s Sermons as printed by Peter Schoeffer (1475), Concordio’s Summa de Casibus Consciente as printed by Gunther Zainer (1475), and de Saxonia’s Vita Christi as printed by Anton Koberger (1478), with each accompanied by eight-line rubricated initials or smaller.

$800 - 1,200

[LEAF BOOK - KING JAMES BIBLE]. The Making of the King James Bible. A Monograph..., with an original leaf from the great “She” Bible of 1611. Edwin Elliot Willoughby, editor. Los Angeles: Printed for Dawson’s Book Shop at the Plantin Press, 1956.

Folio. With an original leaf from the 1611 King James Bible comprising part of the Book of Leviticus. Original quarter cloth; publisher’s slipcase. Provenance: James L. Thielman, book collector (bookplate).

LIMITED EDITION, one of 290 copies. The King James Bible was commissioned in 1604 by the sponsorship of King James VI and I with the ultimate aim of standardizing the Bible as much as possible. Its text was compiled from the eight most common editions then in circulation and was completed seven years later. This 1611 edition is sometimes referred to as the “She Bible” due to a typographical error in the first edition of Ruth 3:15, which reads “she went into the city” instead of “he went into the city.” This mistake distinguishes it from later corrected versions, including the “He Bible” edition. cf. Joel Silver, “Catalog of the Exhibition,” in: Disbound and Dispersed 23.

[With]: A Leaf from the 1611 King James Bible. John Livingston Lowes and Louis I. Newman, editors. San Francisco: The Grabhorn Press for The Book Club of California, 1937. Folio. With an original leaf from the 1611 King James Bible comprising the end of the first and beginning of the second chapter of the Book of Joshua. Original two-tone cloth. LIMITED EDITION, one of 300 copies. Chalmers, Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 72.

$400 - 600

[LEAF BOOK]. POLIDORI, John William (1795-1821). The Vampyre: A Tale, with an introductory note about the tale and its author by Russell Ash together with the background history on which the superstition is based. Herefordshire: The Gubblecote Press, 1974.

8vo. With an original leaf from the 1819 first American edition of The Vampyre published in Philadelphia by M. Thomas, tipped in. Original cloth-backed pictorial boards.

THE FIRST MODERN VAMPIRE STORY.

LIMITED EDITION, number 7 of 19 copies with an original leaf from the first American edition of The Vampyre, from a total edition of 100 Considered to be the forerunner of the modern vampire fiction genre, Polidori’s tale was adapted from that told by Lord Byron during the famous contest held between Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and his future wife Mary, who would conceive Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus during this same contest. It was first published on 1 April 1819 in the New Monthly Magazine and was falsely attributed to Byron; this error was repeated in its first printing in book form later that year, though corrected in later editions. The story was an immediate success and an American edition was quickly rushed into print. For unknown reasons only one complete copy of the first American edition as printed by Thomas is known to exist, with the present leaf book representing one of a limited number of fragments otherwise available. We trace only one other record of the Gubblecote Press edition with the original leaf intact at auction. Not in Disbound and Dispersed

$500 - 700

[LEAF BOOK - NUREMBERG CHRONICLE]. [SCHEDEL, Hartmann (1440-1514)]. Liber Chronicarum. A Folio of the Nuremberg Chronicle Restored from an Incomplete Copy from the Library of Lambton Castle, England. Greenwich, CT: The Country Bookshop, 1932.

Folio. With an original leaf from the Nuremberg Chronicle, laid in as issued. Original drab boards, pictorial paper label on upper cover (spine worn, few stains and soiling to covers).

A SPECIAL COPY CONTAINING THE MOST FAMOUS ILLUSTRATION FROM THE NUREMBERG CHRONICLE: THE DANCE OF DEATH (“DANSE MACABRE”): a single leaf, folio (432 x 286 mm), half-page wood-cut illustration after Michael Wolgemut, p. XXLXIII (“Septimas etas mudi Imago mortis”), contemporary marginalia, toning or soiling. HC *14508; BMC II, 437 (IC. 7451-3); CIBN S-161; Schreiber 5203; Goff S-307.

Below the image, is a caption in Latin of a verse from Petrarch’s “Letter to Giovanni Colonna,” beginning with: “Nothing is better than Death, nor anything worse than an unfair Life” Chalmer, Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 57.

$800 - 1,200

[LEAF BOOK - FUST & SCHOEFFER]. The 1462 Fust & Schoeffer Bible. An essay by Eberhard Koenig...With an Original Leaf from the 1462 Bible. Akron & Evanston: Bruce Ferrini/Hamill & Barker, 1993.

Tall folio. With an original leaf from the Fust & Schoeffer Bible laid into a cloth portfolio; text volume bound in quarter morocco; together housed in publisher’s folding cloth case.

LIMITED EDITION, one of 166 copies, CONTAINING AN ORIGINAL LEAF FROM THE FIRST DATED BIBLE: a single leaf, published in Mainz by Johann Fust & Peter Schoeffer on 14 August 1462, folio (406 x 305 mm), 42-lines, double-column, rubricated 2-line initials with pen flourishes, running titles in red and blue, vertical and horizontal bounding lines ruled full across, reading on the recto from Biblia Sacra Vulgata, 21:13, “Amorrhaei. Siquidem Arnon terminus est Moab, dividens Moabitas et Amorrhaeos...” to Biblia Sacra Vulgata 23:18 on the verso, “At ille, assumpta parabola sua, ait: Sta, Balac, et ausculta; audio.”

The 1462 Fust & Schoeffer Bible was the fourth printed edition of the Bible and the first to explicitly state the names of its printers and date of publication. Johann Fust, who had previously financed Gutenberg’s famous 1455 Bible, partnered with Peter Schoeffer, Gutenberg’s former apprentice, to produce this two-volume Latin Bible. It featured a new, more legible Gotico-Antiqua typeface developed by Schoeffer, which was considered a masterpiece and a precursor to the modern Antiqua type.

In the opening essay, Koenig examines the present pen flourishes and concludes that “although the book was printed in Germany, these leaves were decorated in England, making this incomplete copy, dismembered long ago, one of the earliest printed books to have been imported into England. He also suggested, but left the matter open, that the decoration was done in Surrey, at the Charterhouse of Jesus of Bethlehem, at Sheen” Joel Silver, “Catalog of the Exhibition,” in: Disbound and Dispersed, item 42; Chalmers Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 202.

$2,000 - 3,000

[LEAF BOOK - PETER SCHOEFFER].

Two Essays on the Decretum of Gratian...Together with an Original Leaf Printed on Vellum by Peter Schoeffer at Mainz in 1472. Los Angeles and San Francisco: The Plantin Press for Zeitlin & Ver Brugge; and Bernard M. Rosenthal, 1971.

Large folio. With an original leaf printed on vellum by Schoeffer, inserted at front. Original vellum-backed marbled boards; publisher’s slipcase. [With:] Publisher’s prospectus.

LIMITED EDITION, number 157 of 193 copies, CONTAINING AN ORIGINAL LEAF FROM SCHOEFFER’S GRATIANUS: a single leaf, 470 x 330 mm, printed in Mainz by Peter Schoeffer, ca 1472-1474, on vellum, 80 lines of commentary in 2 columns flanking 55 lines of text in 2 columns, 4-line and 2-line initials rubricated alternately in red and blue, likewise in headline, paragraph flourishes in red, printer’s points at four corners which date this to before the second half of 1474, when the printer began to secure his sheets with two points only. The two short essays making up the text here are useful commentaries on the printer himself and on the origins, substance, and significance of Gratian’s Decretum, the foundation of Roman Church law for more than five centuries. The main text is set in Schoeffer’s 1462 “Bible type,” generally considered to be his most beautiful and important typeface.

“From the advent of printing in Western Europe in the mid-fifteenth century, books printed on vellum have been viewed as particularly precious. Many of the earliest European books, including the Gutenberg Bible, were printed on vellum in addition to paper, and the vellum can achieve spectacular results in terms of clarity...The Decretum of Gratian stands out among leaf books with respect to the print quality of its leaf” (Joel Silver, Catalog of the Exhibition,” in: Disbound and Dispersed 31.

$1,000 - 1,500

[LEAF BOOK]. -- [SHAKESPEARE, William (1564-1616)]. Original Leaves from the First Four Folios of the Plays of William Shakespeare, 1623, 1632, 1663, 1685. With an Introduction by Edwin Eliott Willoughby. San Francisco: Grabhorn Press for David Magee, 1935.

Folio. With 4 original leaves from the Shakespeare Folios tipped in. Original red morocco-backed decorative boards, spine in 6 compartments with 5 raised bands, gilt-lettering in second, uncut (light rubbing near joints). Provenance: Daniel G. Volkmann, Jr.; his sale, Fine California Press Books, PBA, 8 May 2008, lot 307.

LIMITED EDITION, number 37 of 65 copies on Whatman paper, from a total edition of 73, CONTAINING AN ORIGINAL LEAF FROM EACH OF THE FOLIOS, which comprise of: First Folio: The Winters Tale, pp.293-294; Second Folio: The First Part of King Henry the Fourth, pp.59-60 (some marginalia in a contemporary hand); Third Folio: The Tragedy of Macbeth, pp.727-728; Fourth Folio: The Tragedy of Hamlet, pp.81-82. Joel Silver, “Catalog of the Exhibition,” in: Disbound and Dispersed, item 13 (“David Magee...noted that this book ‘seldom occurs for sale’”); Chalmers, Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 67.

$3,000 - 4,000

[LEAF BOOK - SHIP OF FOOLS]. An Original Leaf from the First Edition of Alexander Barclay’s English translation of Sebastian Brant’s “Ship of Fools,” printed by Richard Pynson in 1509. With an Essay by James D. Hart. San Francisco: The Grabhorn Press for David Magee, 1938.

4to. With an original leaf from Barclay’s Ship of Fools tipped in. Original linenbacked decorative boards, red printed paper spine label, uncut (light spotting or toning to spine). [Laid in:] Bifolium prospectus and unused order form.

LIMITED EDITION, one of 115 copies CONTAINING AN ORIGINAL LEAF BEARING A WOODCUT (fol. CCLXI, modern pagination “266” in pencil), from a total edition of 260. A SPECIAL COPY with the original leaf showing Pynson’s amusing woodcut illustration of the ship of fools.

“Caxton is England’s first printer, but Pynson may well be called her first typographical artist. Pynson, who was printer to the King, introduced Roman type into English books, and in The Ship of Fools may be found one of its earliest manifestations. Every trade, profession and rank is lampooned by Barclay in his verse translation of Sebastian Brant’s famous allegory, which depicts a ship, freighted with fools and knaves, among whom is found as an early passenger the Book-Collector: ‘So in lyke wyse of bokys I have store / But few I rede and fewer understand / I followed not they doctrine nor they lore / It is enough to bere a boke in hande.’” (from the prospectus). Chalmers, Disbound and Dispersed Checklist 75.

$400 - 600

[LEAF BOOK]. -- [WHITMAN, Walt (1819-1892)]. A Leaf of Grass From Shady Hill. With a Review of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. Written by Charles Eliot Norton in 1855; And, with a leaf from the first printing of Leaves of Grass, published in Brooklyn in 1855. Cambridge: Kenneth Murdock at the Harvard University Press, 1928.

Tall 8vo. With an original leaf from Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (279 x 191 mm), laid in. Original gilt-lettered green cloth, unopened

FIRST EDITION, WITH AN ORIGINAL LEAF FROM THE 1855 FIRST PRINTING OF WHITMAN’S LEAVES OF GRASS, beginning with the lines “The veneer and gluepot...” and ending with “I intend to reach them my hand and make as much of them as I do of men and women...” (pp.63-64).

The text of this volume was issued to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Harvard professor and author, Charles Eliot Norton (1827-1908), and contains his poem “A Leaf of Grass.” How many of these copies were issued with an original leaf is unclear. We found only one example on the secondary market, with no copies recorded in institutions or appearing at auction. Not in Disbound and Dispersed

$300 - 400

[LEAF BOOK - WHITTINGTON PRESS]. BUTCHER, David. Pages from Presses. Kelmscott, Ashendene, Doves, Vale, Eragny & Essex House Herefordshire: The Whittington Press, 2006.

Folio. 6 original leaves printed by the Kelmscott Press, the Ashendene Press, the Doves Press, the Vale Press, the Eragny Press, and the Essex House Press; interleaved with text as issued. Original cloth-backed boards; publisher’s slipcase.

LIMITED EDITION, number 59 of 95 copies, signed by David Butcher, from a total edition of 185.

The Kelmscott, Ashendene, Doves, Vale, Eragny, and Essex House presses are considered to be forefathers of the modern private press movement, with particular praise given to each for the quality of print and materials used, the beauty of their typefaces, and the care given to each binding. The present volume includes tipped-in bifolium leaves from The Sundering Flood by William Morris as printed by the Kelmscott Press (1897), Vita di Santa Chiara Vergine composta per Ugolino Verino Cittadino Florentino as printed by the Ashendene (1921), Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle as printed by the Doves (1907), The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini as printed by the Vale (1900), Moralités Légendaires as printed by Eragny (1896), and The Courtyer of Count Baldessar Castilio as printed by Essex House (1900).

$1,000 - 1,500

[LEAF BOOK - WYNKYN DE WORDE]. Three Lions and the Cross of Lorraine: Bartholomaeus Anglicus, John of Trevisa, John Tate, Wynkyn de Worde, and De Proprietatibus Rerum. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1992.

Small 4to. With an original leaf from Bartholomaeus Aglicus’ De Proprietatibus rerum, printed by Wynkyn de Worde (1495), inserted in a mylar folder. Original morocco-backed boards.

LIMITED EDITION, number 59 of 138 copies, WITH AN ORIGINAL LEAF FROM THE 1495 DE PROPRIETATIBUS RERUM: a single leaf, 305 x 203 mm, printed in Westminster by Wynkyn de Worde in 1495, double-column text, pagination “97” in an early hand and a later pagination “88” in pencil, both in upper corner, first line of text beginning with “the whyche humour lettyth the soule...” and ending with “in feuer acu without rewme it is a go.” ISTC ib00143000.

“This book...is one of the most difficult modern leaf books to find on the market, and also among the most interesting to read...[which] stems from the important role its featured leaf played in the history of papermaking, in addition to its significance for printing and cultural history” (Joel Silver, “Catalog of the Exhibition,” in: Disbound and Dispersed 41). De Proprietatibus Rerum was the first English book printed on paper made in England by the country’s first papermaker, John Tate.

[With:] Another copy. Limited edition, number 76 of 138 copies. With an original leaf (sig. q2) from De Proprietatibus rerum, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1495.

[With:] A Short Account of the Life and Work of Wynkyn de Worde with a Leaf from the Golden Legend Printed by Him at the Sign of the Sun in Fleet Street, London, the Year 1527. San Francisco: Grabhorn Press for the Book Club of California, 1949. Folio. With an original leaf (ff. 141) from the Golden Legend printed by Wynkin de Worde in 1527, tipped in. Original cloth-backed patterned boards; dust jacket (chipping). LIMITED EDITION, one of 375 copies.

Together, 3 works in 3 volumes.

$600 - 800

[LEAF BOOKS - BOOK CLUB OF CALIFORNIA]. A group of 12 leaf books produced by the Grabhorn Press and others for the Book Club of California, including:

An Original Leaf from the Bible of the Revolution. San Francisco: Printed by Edwin and Robert Grabhorn for John Howell at the Sign of the Open Book, 1930. With an original leaf from the Aitken Bible printed in Philadelphia in 1782. 8vo. LIMITED EDITION, number 133 of 515 copies of “The Colonial Edition.” -- Cato’s Moral Distichs Reproduced from the Edition Printed in Philadelphia in 1735 by Benjamin Franklin. Carl van Doren, editor. San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1939. With an original leaf from the Church of Scotland Prayer Book printed by Benjamin Franklin in 1745. LIMITED EDITION, one of 250 copies. -- The Estiennes... San Francisco: Grabhorn Press for The Book Club of California, 1949. With 3 original leaves from books printed by “the three greatest members of that distinguished family.” LIMITED EDITION, one of 390 copies. -- The Book Called Holinshed’s Chronicles. Stephen Booth, editor. San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1968. With an original leaf from Holinshed’s Chronicles printed in London in 1587 and relating to King Henry VIII. LIMITED EDITION, one of 500 copies. -- The Great Polyglot Bibles. Including a Leaf from the Compluensian of Acala, 1514-17. San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1966. With an original polyglot text leaf from the Complutensian of Acala. LIMITED EDITION, one of 400 copies.

And 7 others. Together, 12 works in 12 volumes, all in original bindings, several in publisher’s slipcases or folding cases, several with prospectuses, condition generally very fine. Complete available upon request.

$400 - 600

[LEAF BOOKS - INCUNABULA]. A group of 3 leaf books with leaves printed during the 15th century, comprising:

A Leaf from the Letters of St. Jerome First Printed by Sixtus Reissinger, Rome. Los Angeles and London: Zeitlin & Ver Brugge - H.M. Fletcher, 1981. With an original leaf printed ca 1466-1467, with seven rubricated 2-line initials in blue. LIMITED EDITION, number 209 of 300 copies. -- Peter Amelung’s Johann Zainer the Elder & Younger Translated from the German by Ruth SchwabRosenthal. Los Angeles: Kenneth Karmiole, Bookseller, Inc., 1985. With an original leaf from Hugo Ripelin’s Compendium Theologiae Veritatis, printed ca 1478-1481. LIMITED EDITION, one of 159 copies. -- HALL, Edwin. Sweynheym & Pannartz and the Origins of Printing in Italy. McMinnville, OR: The Bird & Bull Press for Phillip J. Pirages, 1991. With an original leaf from Nicholas of Lyra’s Postilla super totam bibliam as printed by Sweynheym & Pannartz in 1471, with two rubricated initials in blue. LIMITED EDITION, number 246 of 275 copies.

Together, 3 works in 3 volumes, 4to and folio, all in original bindings, condition generally very fine.

$400 - 600

[LEAF BOOKS]. A group of 16 leaf books, including:

The Fables of Jean de la Fontaine. Los Angeles: Dawson’s Bookshop, 1964. With an original leaf from the 1755-59 edition of Fables Choisies printed in Paris by Charles-Antoine Jombert representing an illustration by JeanBaptiste Oudry. LIMITED EDITION, one of 125 copies. -- The Brescia Dante with a Leaf from the Illustrated Edition of 1487. Salt Lake City: Brigham Young University, 1975. With an original leaf from the 1487 Brescia edition of Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia representing a portion of Canto XVIII from Purgatorio. LIMITED EDITION, number 193 of 250 copies. -- Jacob Bigelow’s American Medical Botany 1817-1821. Boston: Boston Medical Library, 1979. With two original leaves representing a black and white and hand-colored engravings of geranium maculatum (Plate VIII). LIMITED EDITION, number 141 of 300 copies. -- An Original Leaf from the Kleine Print Bybel c. 1750. Los Angeles: Dawson’s Book Shop, 1991. With an original “thumb-sized” leaf from the 1780 edition. LIMITED EDITION, one of 60 copies. -- Illustrium Imagines Incorporating an English Translation of Nota... Crestline, CA: George Frederick Kolbe, 2001. With an original leaf from the 1517 first edition of the first illustrated book on numismatics. LIMITED EDITION, number 84 of 150 copies.

And 11 others. Together, 16 works in 17 volumes, in various 36mo, 8vo, 4to, and folio sizes, all in original bindings, condition generally very fine. Complete list available upon request.

$800 - 1,200

The Leaf Book Collection of Stephen J. Farber

FINE PRINTED BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS, INCLUDING AMERICANA

The Leaf Book Collection of Stephen J. Farber | Lots 56-83

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