SPEAKING
of Books... SPEAKING
of Books...
The Joslin Hall Rare Books Newsletter
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February 2nd, 2005 The Book Elves are still digging out from under that big snow we got a few weeks ago -if I remember correctly, it was the 5th biggest storm in Boston history. The timing was good, because it began to snow less than 48 hours after we had rolled into the yard with an enormous load of vintage auction catalogs -50 or 60 boxes worth, going back to the 1930s. I do not want to think about what unloading those would have been like with 30+ inches of snow on the ground...
The catalogs cover a broad range of topics and the Book Elves are on double-shift getting them processed and described. We will certainly be doing several "Catalogs of Catalogs" featuring them in the coming months, and will let you know more about that as we get closer to publication date.
I'd say "let us know if you are looking for a particular catalog from the 1940s or 50s or whatever", but with 60 boxes of them to look through, the chances of being able to find a single title by rooting around for it are, well, let's just say there's a better chance of my sprouting wings, flying down to Jacksonville and replacing Adam Vinatieri as the Patriot's field goal kicker in the SooperDooper Bowl this Sunday. If you'd be interested in receiving our "Catalog of Catalogs", please let us know.
Our JUST CATALOGUED PAGES have been updated with a variety of
new items, mostly on art and antiques. Highlights include-
-The catalog to the Museum of Modern Art's 1933 Exhibition "American Sources of Modern Art" -these were the ancient American arts that inspired Art Deco designers.
-Carter's very scarce inside look at the running of Edwardian mansions- "Millionaire Households and Their Domestic Economy".
-A really sweet copy of the 1931 edition of Cescinsky's "Gentle Art of Faking Furniture".
-An interesting 1870 broadside for a Hartford furniture dealer.
-A nice copy of George Francis Dow's "Domestic Life in New England in the 17th Century", one of 95 copies printed on Etruria handmade paper.
-Newton Elwell's very, very scarce 1899 book "Colonial Silverware of the 17th and 18th Centuries", a companion volume to his study of Colonial furniture and interiors which we listed (and sold) a month or so ago.
-2 copies of Appleton Griffin's fine 1897 catalog of the Washington Collection at the Boston Athenaeum, one copy with the scarce Index volume, and the other copy is one of 55 copies printed on special paper.
-A nice copy of the hard-to-find 1930 catalog of the Harding Collection of Antique Irish Glass.
-Hopkins and Cox's pioneering 1936 book on West New Jersey furniture, limited to 300 copies.
-An unusual 1951 study of gold beating.
-A nice copy of John Langdon's scholarly study of Colonial American silversmiths who fled to Canada after the American Revolution, limited to 350 copies.
-A very scarce 1903 pamphlet on the "fake" jewelry trade in New York.
-A nice set of the 1929 and 1932 editions of Prime's books on the Arts & Crafts of Philadelphia, Maryland and South Carolina, limited to 500 and 400 copies.
-A copy of Gisela Richter's 1937 monograph on the "Etruscan" Terra Cotta Warriors at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, limited to 500 copies (see below for a link to an extended story about these infamous fakes).
-A beautiful copy of Frederic Fairchild Sherman's 1930 study of early American portrait painting, limited to 250 copies.
-A scarce 1816 catalog of intaglios and paste cameos, issued by William Tassie.
-An interesting 1933 study of the long-lost Wealden glass industry, limited to 500 copies.
-several interesting decorative arts theses, touching on early American furniture and silver.
And much more!
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| Books on Ceramics Part One. [a-k] Bookin' 243 Featuring 101 books. Request your free copy today and we will also make sure you get a copy of Part Two, which will be released shortly! |
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We recently came across a story that in the 1960s the staff at a certain major London auction house became bored by the many anonymous Old Masters they had to catalogue. They took to calling these unidentified paintings "orphans", and then one day someone referred to a picture as "a real bastard". And so the famous and hitherto-unknown French master La Bātarde was born...
- - - - - - - - - - NEW FEATURE ON THE WEBSITE - - - - - - - - - -
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Between 1915 and 1921 the Metropolitan
Museum of Art purchased three extraordinary ancient Etruscan terra cotta warriors... in
fact, they were a bit too extraordinary. The warriors were, in fact, fakes,
carried out on a grand, almost "mythic" scale, and even as the ink dried on the
checks, doubts were being whispered in art circles in Europe. In 1959, when a visiting
Italian scholar was offered a chance to see the statues and commented that he did not need
to see them since he knew the man who had made them, the authorities at the museum decided
something had to be done... [Read more] |
FEATURED BOOK-
We are pleased to have recently added an important book on North American Indian Trade Silver to our stock of new books-
Martha Wilson Hamilton's "Silver in the Fur Trade, 1680-1820". Chelmsford; Martha Hamilton Publishing: 1995. An important examination of North American Indian trade silver, with discussion of First Nations, American, British, Dutch and French trading patterns, an analysis of forms, and all the known Indian trade silver makers' marks and biographies of the silversmiths. Profusely illustrated and thoroughly researched, this is an essential reference work.Softcover. 8.5"x10", 236 pages, b/w and color illustrations, marks; near fine. [06785] $45.00
Order your copy today!
