Search Results: Titles starting with F from Ursus Books

1916. KENNERLEY, Mitchell. The Forum Exhibition of Modern American Painters. 78 pp., and [4] pp. of advertisements, illustrated with 16 plates. Small 4to, 250 x 165 mm., bound in original boards, title printed in black on front cover and spine. New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1916. Exhibition catalogue for the pioneering show at Anderson Galleries on March 13-25, 1916, of works by sixteen American Modernists: Ben Benn, Thomas H. Benton, Oscar Bluemner, Andrew Dasburg, Arthur G. Dove, Marsden Hartley, S. MacDonald-Wright, John Marin, Alfred Maurer, Henry L. McFee, George F. Of, Man Ray, Morgan Russell, Charles Sheeler, A. Walkowitz, and William and Marguerite Zorach. Each artist contributed a statement, here printed opposite the plate showing his or her work. Members of the committee that chose the artists and works on view were Christian Brinton, Robert Henri, W.H. de B. Nelson, Alfred Stieglitz, and John Weichsel, who all wrote forewords, and Willard Huntington Wright, who also contributed the… Read More

1821. QUARENGHI, Giacomo. Fabbriche e Disegni di Giacomo Quarenghi Architetto di S. M. L'Imperatore di Russia, Cavaliere di Malta e di S. Waldimiro, Illustrate Dal Cav. Giulio suo Figlio. [5], 6-46, [2] pp., illustrated with an engraved frontispiece portrait of Quarenghi, and 59 full-page engraved plates. Folio, 480 x 330 mm., bound in contemporary Italian light blue paste-paper boards. Milan: Presso Paolo Antonio Tosi, 1821. First edition. The Italian architect and painter Giacomo Quarenghi (1744-1817) spent his entire architectural career in Russia. "During his thirty-eight-year practice he made significant contributions to the architectural identity of St. Petersburg, the last of the great European capitals to be founded (in 1703 by Peter the Great), and to Neoclassical taste. Like Bartolomeo Rastrelli, his distinguished Italian predecessor in establishing the grandeur of St. Petersburg, Quarenghi also designed projects for buildings in Moscow. During his long and busy Russian… Read More

1931. CALDER, Alexander. Fables of Aesop According to Sir Roger L'Estrange. [6], 124, [10] pp., illustrated with 50 line-block reproductions after pen-and-ink drawings by Calder. 4to, 255 x 195 mm., bound in publisher's over boards, in the original cardboard slipcase, in a new half morocco folding box. Paris: Harrison of Paris, 1931. The publisher's copy of the deluxe issue of Calder's most significant book, illustrated with figures from Aesop constructed in the same style as his imaginary Circus figures and in his wire portraits and statues that dominated his creative output during the 1930s. This copy has an original signed Calder drawing for "The fox and the grapes", one of the more elaborate images in the book. The deluxe issue is especially sought after, being exquisitely printed on Spanish handmade paper incorporating coloured silk-threads. The Calder drawings for Aesop are creative and playful, marking this as a major example of modern book illustration. This… Read More

1989. LORA-TOTINO, Arrigo. A Ferro e a Fuoco. Nova Litolatta. Large Folio. 12 pages in different metals bound with metal ring. 330 x 400 mm., printed on metal sheets and bound in metal, in a new cloth folding box. Naples: Edizioni Morra, 1989. A splendid modern take on the legendary Italian Futurist books that were printed on metal, created by Lora-Totino, who is considered one of the fathers of Italian sound poetry. He's mostly known for having curated the anthology Futura: Poesia Sonora (1978), where he collected the voices of the most interesting sound poets of the twentieth century, but also for being a key figure in the Italian experimental poetry. Number 3 of 39 copies.

1930. ETABLISSEMENTS MAISON. Fers Forges. Ferronerie d'Art. 23 ff. Illustrated with 29 tipped in photographs of ironwork. Small Folio, 317 x 230 mm, bound in publisher's decorated boards. [Riceys, Aube: ca. 1930]. A superb catalog of art deco ironwork from the Maison foundry which had been operating in Riceys since 1863. Among the items depicted are two stairways in the Grand Palais, a hair-dressing salon, gates to the government palace in Dakar, and various doors, including one incorporating Lalique glass. Some wear to the binding, a near fine copy.

1833. [VEVEY]. [Fête des Vignerons, 1833]. Continuous panorama scroll, containing 30 consecutive lithographs (numbered 1-30) from the 1833 Festival of the Vignerons at Vevey, hand-coloured at the time of publication, backed with linen and conjoined to form a continuous scroll of 14.4 meters long. Plate size: oblong folio, 170 x 470 mm., in a new cloth folding box. Lausanne: Lithographie de Spengler & Cie, [1833]. An extremely rare, complete copy, in contemporary hand-colouring of this remarkable series of plates in scroll format depicting the 1833 Festival of the Vingerons at Vevey, Switzerland -- since 1791 this ancient festival has been celebrated five times per century. The scroll shows the entire procession in panorama format; the procession moved in three groups: Herds and Flocks (plates 1-8), the Harvest (plates 9-18), and Winemakers (plates 19-30). The festival celebrates the vineyards and wine production in the Vevey area. The artist of the work was Christian Gottlieb… Read More

1971. RUSCHA, EDWARD. A Few Palm Trees. Unpaginated artist's book with 14 b&w illustrations. 8vo, wraps. Hollywood, Heavy Industry Publications,1971. First edition, 1971. Photographs of Los Angeles palm trees with their locations identified by addresses and cross streets.

1847. EUCLID. The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid, in which Coloured Diagrams and Symbols are used instead of Letters for the Greater Ease of Learners. By Oliver Byrne. xxix, [1], 268 pp., illustrated throughout with colour-printed diagrams. Small 4to, 237 x 188 mm., bound in original publisher's drab cloth, edges untrimmed, in a new half morocco protective box. London: [Charles Whittingham for] William Pickering, 1847. First and only edition of Byrne's Euclid, surely one of the most remarkable Victorian books. These Mondrian-like designs of bold, primary colours are printed in faultless register, and the striking composition on the page is unique in bookmaking. Ruari McLean describes it as "one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the whole century." Both McLean and Joan Friedman agree that it is Whittingham's "triumph." In describing the complicated printing processes, Friedman writes: "Although the areas of colour were all flat tones without… Read More

1980. ABBOTT, Edwin Abbott. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. With an introduction by Ray Bradbury. [56] ff. Illustrated with 14 line drawings and 10 die-cuts by Andrew Hoyem, with watercolour added by hand. Folio, 354 x 180 mm., bound accordion-style in original decorated aluminum covers, in a hinged and locking aluminum frame. San Francisco: Arion Press, 1980. One of 275 copies printed Monotype Univers on T.H. Saunders hot-press mould-made paper. Andrew Hoyem's radical design and illustrations realize many implications of this satire about a two-dimensional world. Signed by Ray Bradbury. Scarce. Arion Press Checklist 7. Reed and Phillips Artists and their Books p.102

1852. DORÉ, Gustave. Folies Gauloises depuis les Romains jusqu'à nos Jours. 20 lithographs by Doré. Oblong folio, 335 x 260 mm., bound in contemporary half morocco with the original green printed wrappers preserved. Paris: Au Bureau du Journal Amusant, [1852 or 1859]. First edition of this "dazzling survey of French manners and costume through the ages, the last of Doré's albums. It is marked by a solidity of conception and a sophistication of outlook to which he hardly aspired in his earlier collections of lithographs" (Ray). Each lithograph represents a distinct period in French history, beginning with the barbarian hordes (Gauls) observing a human sacrifice, then proceeding to a thirteenth-century Inquisition, a fifteenth-century tournament, a festival during the reign of Henri III, the premiere performance of a 1695 drama by Racine, the "edifices" of fashionable women's wigs in the court of Louis XVI, a harp recital in 1810,… Read More

1833. ECKERSBERG, C.W. Forsög til en Veiledning i Anvendelsen af Perspectivlæren for unge Malere. Title page and 12 pp., 4 etched plates. Folio, 335 x 255 mm., bound in contemporary grey wrappers. Copenhagen: Thieles Bogtrykkeri, 1833. WITH: Linearperspectiven, anvendt paa Malerkunsten, en Række af perspectiviske Studier af C. W. Eckersberg, med tilhörende Forklaringer. One page introduction by G.F. Ursin and 11 etched plates, numbered 1-10, with 9a and 9b, accompanied by 9 text leaves (the texts accompanying plates 7a and 8, and 9a and 9b are each on one page). Loose in the original wrappers in a new blue cloth folding box. Copenhagen: C. A. Reitzel, 1841. First edition of both works. Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg is considered to be the founding father of the nineteenth century Danish school of painting, and was the most influential teacher in the history of Danish art. The National Gallery in Washington mounted a major retrospective of his work in 2003. He was… Read More

1775. QIANLONG, EMPEROR OF CHINA (1736-1796). Suite of four engravings depicting the conquests of the Qianlong Emperor. From the suite of sixteen engraved plates. Printed in Paris under the direction of Charles-Nicholas Cochin. Broadsheets, image size: 515 x 890 mm. Preserved in the contemporary French green paper mounts with black ink outline borders. Professionally framed. With the original French printed labels describing the individual engravings affixed to back of frames. [Paris, 1769-1774]. These four contemporary hand-coloured engravings represent individual scenes from the exceedingly rare series of sixteen engravings commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor to commemorate the victory of his 1755-1760 military campaigns against the Western Mongols. The four plates are: I. "General Fou Te Accepts the Surrender of the Ili," showing the triumphal march of the Emperor and his general to Beijing. Drawn by Sichelbart and engraved by B.L. Prévost in 1769… Read More

1997. WALKER, Kara. Freedom: A Fable by Kara Walker. Unpaginated "pop-up" book with text. 4to, bound in publisher's boards. In a new maroon cloth folding box. [N.P.]: Peter Norton Christmas Project, 1997. An early and exciting artist book by Kara Walker produced by the Norton Family as their annual Christmas gift to friends and colleagues. Walker's characteristic 'Negro' silhouettes are featured here in exquisite 'pop-up' cut-outs that illustrate the narrative of a "soon-to-be emancipated 19th century Negress." A fine copy.

1852. HOVEY, Charles. The Fruits of America, Containing Richly Colored Figures, and Full Descriptions of All the Choicest Varities cultivated in the United States. Two Volumes. viii, 100; iv, 96 pp. Illustrated with a lithographic frontispiece portrait of Hovey, a lithographic frontispiece portrait of William Sharp, two engraved title vignettes by A. Roberts, and 96 chromolithographic plates of fruits by William Sharp, plus numerous textual illustrations throughout. Tall 4to., 273 x 177 mm, bound by B. Bradley and Co., Boston in contemporary full dark blue morocco, gilt ruled borders on covers, a.e.g, rebacked with original spines laid down. Boston: Hovey & Co. and New York: Appleton, 1852, 1856. First Edition, a fine, complete copy of the most beautiful American work on fruits produced in the nineteenth century, illustrated with 96 chromolithograph plates by the firm of William Sharp of Boston. This is also one of the most lavish American works featuring chromolithographs to have… Read More

1932. MATSUYAMA, Shisui. Fune to zosensho no hanashi. 12, 244 pp., illustrated title, three photo plates, two folding plans, illustrations and photos through the text. 8vo, 181 x 123 mm., bound in publisher's colour illustrated boards and slightly rubbed slipcase. Tokyo: Kinto-sha, 1932 [Showa 7]. A spectacular piece of Japanese modernist book design, at least as far as the binding and the slipcase goes. The interior is a drably printed book on shipbuilding. The designer is unfortunately not identified. Despite insignificant wear, a fresh copy.