Highlights

Superb example of a vellucent binding. Cedric Chivers (1853 -1929) of Bath revived the technique of painting under vellum and it is rare to find such a finely preserved example of his work. In 'Days and Hours in a Garden', 19th century Scottish artist and writer, Eleanor Vere Boyle (1825 -1916) takes us through the months of the year, the cherry blossoms, the rooks, the wild ivy etc. etc., reminiscent of a modest walled-garden 'Walden' by Thoreau.

The Sunday Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. 1914.

Copper-line engraving by Carlo Gregori after Giovanni Domenico Campiglia. 1741. 255mm by 180mm (platemark) 420mm by 270mm (sheet). Illustration of an Ancient Roman marble bust from 'Musei Capitolini', a series of engravings showing the sculpture of the Capitoline Museum in Rome.

London: Oxford University Press, 1933. Pablo Picasso. First English Language Edition. Original cloth. Hardcover : pp. [vi] xi, 43 [1] : frontis by Picasso : photo of Cocteau as Heurtebise : printed on Basingwerk paper : SIGNED by both Cocteau and Picasso at colophon (p.iv), Cocteau has added his signature star : fore-edge untrimmed : black cloth boards lettered in gilt on top board : custom clamshell box in black cloth littered in gilt. Cloth is chipped to all edges and split 9cm from crown of top joint; some light foxing. Item #3927 No. 23 of 100.

A leaf from Holinshed's "Historie of Scotland", published in 1577, including a woodcut of King Alexander the Fierce watching the beheading of a thief. Text in English. Holinshed was Shakespeare's favourite and most trusted source and he used it for more than a third of his plays including Macbeth, King Lear, Cymbeline and the English history plays. Fair antiquarian condition only, but the text is complete and legible and the woodcut sharply printed.

Peter Trusler's paintings for the book Birds of Australian Gardens (Rigby, 1980), are revolutionary, and rank among the finest Australian natural history paintings ever done. In his Artist's Note (page 11) Peter says; 'Where possible I prefer to work from life. A number of the paintings are portraits of individual birds and all of the backgrounds and plants have been painted from actual specimens ... The paintings for the plates were executed with transparent watercolour and gouache. Item #6569

Part of a collection of Gaberbocchus Press publications. This title with illustrations by Jarry and Pierre Bonnard. Also includes loosely inserted, signed drawing by Franciszka Themerson. Limited to 50 copies.

Written on extremely fine vellum in a precise gothic minuscule script. Heading 'IERE' (JEREMIAS) and chapter numbers in red and blue.Two illuminated initials beginning the chapters in red and blue with elaborate marginal extensions. Excellent condition. Size of leaf c.165x130 mm.

An exquisite suite of watercolours, including a beautiful series of scenes documenting a Venetian commedia dell'arte troupe, by the Italian artist Francesco Novelli. Francesco Novelli (1767-1836), one of the preeminent artists of his generation, lived in Venice where he was best known for his outstanding book illustration. He enjoyed a long and successful career that culminated in the landmark editions of Don Quixote (1819) and Gil Blas (1820). Novelli is also known for illustrating works such as the Fasti Veneziani (1794), hinting at his abiding interest in the theatre and performing arts.

Manuscript on vellum, with seal. 320x460mm, folded. In very good clean condition. *** For Gregson, a volatile political figure in VDL, one of the 'Patriotic Six' and (very briefly) Tasmania's second Premier, see ADB 1. The land was near Jericho, on the Jordan River, and the grant included the services of three transported convicts. Gregson was alleged to have bribed the surveyor G.W. Evans, with a piano, to swear that there was insufficient land adjacent to his first grant for an additional location, thus allowing him to take later grants in a more favourable location (this being one of them?)

London : Henry Graves and Company, Printsellers to Her Majesty, 1861 [actually 1856] - 67. Two volumes with 100 fine lithographed plates by Joseph Wolf. Zoological sketches is unequivocally one of the high points of nineteenth-century natural history illustration. The work features numerous Australian birds and animals. "WITHOUT EXCEPTION, THE BEST ALL-ROUND ANIMAL PAINTER THAT EVER LIVED" (Sir Edwin Landseer).

Potter, Beatrix, & others: CHANGING PICTURES: A Book of Transformation Pictures. Ernest Nister, London and E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, n.d.[1893]. First edition. One of three coloured illustrations on the upper board is an early (unattributed) picture by Beatrix Potter, of a rabbit opening a door to discover a Christmas basket of carrots and other vegetables. $1500