Description
Very Good dust jacket, decorated, two small spots of chipping on front, a mylar dust jacket has been added. The Near Fine binding is brown cloth over boards, red and gilt title stamping on front and spine. Color and black-and-white illustrations throughout. The binding is tight and pages are clean. The book measures 12.4″ tall x 9.8″ wide.
About the book (from the dust jacket)
ALAN G. THOM AS, the eminent bookseller, the story of some of the world’s Greatest books, their creation and survival, and the men who were responsible for them. Unlike many writers on the subject, he never loses sight of their importance as landmarks in the history of mankind.
Beginning with manuscripts from their emergence in the Dark Ages down to the Renaissance, he discusses many fascinating aspects of the subject: the invention of printing – Gutenberg, Aldus and Caxton, and the beautiful early woodcut books: bookbinding. from the Gospel found in the superb work of coffin of St Cuthbert to the French craftsman still alive today; the heroic story of early editions of the Bible, and the Bible in Hebrew, both of which were often produced under conditions of persecution; the
fifteenth-century herbals, the beautiful color. plate flower books such as Redoute and Thornton’s Temple of Flora, and a charming example of the art of book production, English books with colored aquatint plates; the great books produced by Palladio, Gibbs and Robert Adam which did so much to influence architecture in Europe and America.
Alan Thomas also considers the achievements of the New World, from the letter in which
Columbus announced his discovery of America to one of the finest ornithological works ever produced- Audubon’s Tie Birds of America In more recent times he discusses the revival of printing through the Private Press movement, why first editions are collected, and recounts an astonishing series of fakes and forgeries. Finally, he follows the history of great book collectors, from men like Sir Robert Cotton who salvaged the manuscripts scattered by the sack of the monasteries to the great American collectors-Pierpont Morgan and Henry Huntington – who established libraries fully comparable to those of the Old World.
The lively text and many beautiful illustrations, chosen from the finest books ever produced, do justice to the subject as one of the most glorious achievements of Western civilization.
About the author (from the dust jacket)
ALAN G. THOMAS became a bookseller in 1927. At one time he owned a bookshop with 95,000 books, but he now specializes in rare books in London. He is famous for his catalogs which combine wide bibliographical knowledge with a witty and personal style. Back numbers of the catalogs are themselves collected and are recorded in the British Museum Catalog. He was President of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (International), 1958-59, and chairman of the committee which founded and organized the Antiquarian Bookfair. He is a member of the Bibliographical Society and the Association
Internationale de Bibliophilic. A lifelong friendship with Lawrence Durrell has resulted in Thomas compiling the standard bibliography and editing Spirit of Place, He is the author of Fine Books, published in 1967, about which The Book Collector said: ‘The author traverses his twelve centuries . . . With comfortable assurance and a ready eye for a telling and sometimes unfamiliar anecdote. Altogether, it is a book that can be confidently recommended both for the beginner and to any doubting bibliophile inclined to wonder whether it is all worth while. Still an enthusiastic bookseller, it is Thomas ambition to issue his hundredth catalog on his hundredth birthday.
