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CAUSERIE SUR L’ART DRAMATIQUE [aka CHAT ON DRAMATIC ARTS] by Fichier. (Paris, 1903) Cover designed by Marius Michel.

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THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON WITH MEMOIR AND NOTES (New York: American News Company, 1890)

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Part of the Classic Poetry Library published by T.Y. Crowell (New York. 1882)

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LIVRE DE CARICATURES TANT BONNE QUE MAUVAISES [aka BOOK OF CARICATURES BOTH GOOD AND BAD] (Paris, c.1740-1775) Artist or designer Charles-Germain de Saint-Aubin (1721-1786). Possibly Augustin de Saint-Aubin (1724-1807). Possibly Gabriel-Jacques Saint-Aubin (1724-1780)

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ALMANACH ROYAL, ANNÉE BISSEXTILE M. DCCLXXVI [aka ROYAL ALMANAC FOR THE LEAP YEAR 1776]

Presented to her majesty for the first time in 1699.

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HEURES DITES DE JOSEPH BONAPARTE [aka SAID HOURS OF JOSEPH BONAPARTE] (1401-1500)

Featuring the coat of arms of Philippe V. (King of Spain 1638-1746)

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THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUES OF WINDSOR CASTLE AND THE ROYAL COLLEGE, AND CHAPEL OF ST. GEORGE, AND THE INSTITUTION, LAWS AND CEREMONIES OF THE MOST NOBLE ORDER OF THE GARTER (1749) Binding designed by Joseph Pote (1703-1787)

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ORLANDO FURIOSO by Ludovico Ariosto (New York: National alumni, 1906)

The binding on this volume is a facsimile of the original held by the Vatican. An Italian binding from the middle of the 18th Century, the cover is decorated with a handsome geometrical design combined with arabesques, and blind stamped with heated tools to render portions of the leather darker.

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OCTAVARIUM ROMANIUM [aka OCTAVAE FESTORUM]

The Octavarium Romanium is a Catholic liturgical book which may be considered as an appendix to the Roman Breviary, but which has not the official position of the other Roman liturgical books.

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VOYAGES EN ABYSSINIE ET EN NUBIE [aka TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA] Art binding.

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LAYLA AND MAJNUN by Jami (c.1550-1560)

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FEUILLETS D’AUTREFOIS. SOUVENIRS ET RÊVES. [aka SHEETS FROM YESTERYEAR. MEMORIES AND DREAMS] (Paris: privately printed by Philippe Renouard, 1916). Binding design by Henri Michel-Marius (1846-1925).

Michel Marius was the name employed by Jean Michel (1821-1890) and his son, Henri François (1846-1925), who were distinguished Parisian bookbinders. The work of the elder Michel, while technically excellent, was largely traditional. Henri Francois, on the other hand, was more enterprising, and used curved stamps instead of small dies and fillets to work exotic flower and leaf forms, and also attempted to relate the decoration of the book cover to its contents. He was the first bookbinder to suggest that the mood of the book should be continued in the design and color of the binding. He may, in fact, be called the founder of the 20th century French school of binding. The designs of the two binders were often based on natural forms and the ornamentation is expressed in color, outlined in blind, and very often without the use of gold.

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Until the eighteenth century, it was customary for a publisher to only produce the book block. People could choose a bookbinder to provide it with a (luxury) binding of their choice. Suenonius Mandelgreen, one of the top Dutch eighteenth-century bookbinders designed the cover with the Van Borssele van der Hooge family’s coat of arms in the center and cupids shooting arrows at a flying heart in the corners. (1755)

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FRANCESCA DA RIMINI: A Tragedy in Five Acts by George H. Bowker (Chicago: Dramatic. 1901)

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HEURES NOUVELLES A L’USAGE DES LAICS, SUIVANT LE NOUVEAU BREVIARE. [aka NEW HOURS FOR THE USE OF THE LAITY, FOLLOWING THE NEW BREVIARY.] (Paris)

Books were among the many objects collected by Madame de Pompadour, including this beautifully bound Christian devotional book called a Book of Hours. While Pompadour’s bindings were usually stamped with her coat of arms, the monogram in the center of this binding is unusual. It relates to a group of objects in various media that Pompadour commissioned around the theme of love and friendship. On the binding, the initials of Pompadour and her friend and lover, the king, are depicted as intertwined floral garlands. — The Walters Art Museum

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QUR’AN (17th Century)

A large size (51x37cm) illuminated copy of the QUR’AN made in Turkey. Ink and pigments on laid, non-European with flyleaves of Italian, pink tinted paper covered with leather. ‘This polychrome manuscript is penned in a number of scripts, including Muhaqqaq, Thuluth, Naskh, and Ttawqi’.

Previously owned by Sultan Ahmad (reigned 1703-1730). Held by the Walters Art Museum.

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HOLY BIBLE (1659-1660). Binding by John Field.

In the Royal Collection Trust, England. Embroidered.