London: Astolat Press no date c1904

Second edition. Half title, photogravure frontis with tissue guard, and title + 28pp with 6 numbered sepia photogravures and 22 b/w drawings. Square 4to in open weave cloth with stamped decoration and title on spine. Rubbed and bumped on edges, especially spine. Overall a good copy of the second edition of this scarce text. The b/w illustrations are taken from pen drawings by Louis R. Deuchars and Mary herself, and the sepia photogravures from negatives by George Andrews. The Watts Chapel (Compton Chapel) was designed and built by Mary Watts, the wife of the artist G F Watts. It is an intricately ornate building: a mixture of art nouveau, Romanesque and Celtic with the unmistakable influence of the Arts and Crafts movement, of which Mary Watts was a pioneer. Bookplate of Gavin Stamp on front paste down. Previous owner inscription on the half title. Loosely inserted clippings and a letter on matters related to the book and Watts.

Brussels Robin International Cinerama Corporation, Stanley Warner Cinerama Corporation and N V Belgian Exhibitors S.A. 1958

16pp With loosely inserted flyer which is a programme of the films to be shown in the Cinerama at the Brussels Worlds Fair of 1958. Illustrated with b/w plates and monotone line images. Long 4to. Striking wrappers. Centre fold is a large explanatory diagram of what a Cinerama comprises. Text in English, French German and Dutch. Nice item. Wide Screen cinematography became one of the attractions of World Fairs. The first manifestation was at Paris 1900 with the Lumiere Brothers. Each Worlds Fair had some manifestation of the wide screen. The trademarked process was marketed by the Cinerama corporation. It was the first of a number of novel processes introduced during the 1950s to keep interest in cinema allive. The first Cinerama film, This Is Cinerama, premiered on September 30, 1952 in New York. The same film, along with a programme of others was shown at Brussels.

London, Routledge and Kegan Paul 1971

xxi + 481pp, with 34b/w plates. Cloth vg indeed in attractive dw using one of Voysey's fabric designs. A history of Alexander Morton and Company, and its offshoots, Morton Sundour Fabrics Ltd and Edinburgh Weavers. With considerable information on Alexander Morton and Sir James Morton, and some description of the lives of Alastair Morton and Commander R.S.E, Hannay. With information on C.F.A. Voysey, John Ruskin, William Morris, the Arts & Crafts movement, the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society, book-binding cloth, Liberty and Co., and numerous anecdotes of period artists including members of the Glasgow School and Ben Nicholson. Also interesting for its account of the firm's development from hand-weaving to large scale industrial production. Hand written note on headed paper dated 14/11/78 from Jocelyn Morton to 'Welch' (Possibly Robert Welch?) referencing a cancelled visit to Stratford on Avon and conveying this book by post instead to the recipient. Hard to find.

London The Monotype Corporation Limited nd

An envelope containing four editions of the Type-Specimen Pamphlet "Twenty-One Classic Type Faces" published by The Monotype Corporation Limited London to aid the comparison of type behaviour. No date c 1959. Edition A [Letterpress on Antiques Papers], Edition B [Letterpress on Coated Paper] C [Augmented reprint by Photo-Offset] and Edition D [Ditto, by Rotary Photogravure]. Each version of the pamphlet has 8pp printed in red and black. Brown envelope with card title page, this slightly dusty. This initially was attached to the flap of the envelope but the glue has perished. Lovely item. Great for showing the impact in terms of type behaviour dependent on the selection of the paper type and print method.

London Nd Donald Currie & Co Managers, 1910

Unpaginated 6pp prelims, 30 sepia postcards in a small rexine covered binding designed to allow cards to be removed by tearing perforations. The cards show the ship's activities which passengers could participate in along with images of places visited on route between Southampton and the Cape, South Africa. Memorandum pages between the images are used for printed explanations of deck games in some cases. Shaky at binding else good copy of a scarce souvenir publication. Paste downs have adverts for hotels on them. Possibly lacks rear end paper. Dedication of free end paper "To Ma & Pa this book is the best I have seen illustrating the voyage to the Cape" dated 9 September 1910 and initialled A G. Another postcard album appears to have been published in parallel but this stands alone. The Union Castle Line was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Lines in 1903 and operated until 1977. It also incorporated the Royal Mail Service.

1886

96pp. green cloth covered boards with gilt embossing on upper boards and blind stamped cloth on verso. Measures c. W285mm x H370mm. "Charles Gordon Cater. June 1886" written in ink on front paste down, above a small label for "W. Lockwood & Co. Stationers &c.,..." Laid down cuttings from magazines alongside postcards, greetings cards, calling cards, die-cut paper scraps, illustrations, reproductions of paintings etc. and the occasional comment or reference written in neat hand in blue or red ink. A single page, likely from another album is loosely inserted into the album. Some comical placing and collaging of elements on some of the pages. The inclusion of a full page image of General Gordon (1833 - 1885) on the first and last page suggests a possible interest with the General, if only in the shared names, Charles Gordon. A very carefully put together album with some interesting socio-historical and artistic references placed alongside various more personal mementos. Shows some signs of its age with pages crockled - in part due to the paste used in the album's creation. A very few of the stuck down elements have torn slightly or are missing and the boards are a little marked and bumped at the corners and top of spine. Nonetheless this is a very good, bright and hugely engaging item.