Conversa bibliófila – um aniversário esquecido

No passado dia 28 de Abril completaram-se sete anos da criação deste blogue, onde se dá ênfase ao livro como objecto de comunicação e cultural, mas sobretudo da sua vertente coleccionista.

Sairey Gamp

The face of Mrs. Gamp — the nose in particular — was somewhat red and swollen, and it was difficult to enjoy her society without becoming conscious of a smell of spirits." Martin Chuzzlewit. — Chap. XIX. J. Clayton Clarke ("Kyd") – Watercolour

The John Players cigaret card

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham

Joseph Clayton Clarke, who is best known by his pseudonym “Kyd,” was born in 1857 in Onchan on the Isle of Man. He was versatile an artist who attempted all sorts of subjects, although he is chiefly remembered for his two collections of watercolours of Dickens's quirky characters, The Characters of Charles Dickens Pourtrayed in a Series of Original Water Colour Sketches by Kyd (1889) and Some Well Known Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens (1892). After only one day on the staff of the London humour magazine Punch, he switched 1887 to the Fleet Street Magazine, in which appeared his watercolour illustrations of Dickens's characters without the benefit of backdrops such as American caricaturist Felix Octavius Carr Darley. From 1927 onward Kyd made a very good living from executing watercolour sketches of literary (chiefly Dickensian) characters for wealthy collectors. In personal appearance, the artist affected the style of Dickens's Micawber, including spats and gloves. However, as rising income permitted him to move his growing family out of the metropolis in 1892, he moved not to "Dickens-land" (Rochester, Kent), but to the charming West Sussex town of Chichester.

Joseph Clayton Clarke (Kyd): Charactersfrom Dickens (1889) [The Victorian Web]

The Marchioness

Muitos temas, autores, eventos bibliófilos (ou simplesmente relacionados com o livro) e livrarias foram aqui divulgados.

Muita paciência tem tido os meus leitores de me continuarem a ler e de seguir as minhas divagações e escritos.

De Donald A. Heald – Rare books, prints & maps  localizado em 124 East 74th St, New York, NY 10021, USA  apresento:

AUDUBON, John James (1785-1851) – Mallard Duck. From "The Birds of America" (Amsterdam Edition)

[Pl. 221] Amsterdam and New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation and Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1971-72. Colour-printed lithograph, on fine hand-made paper. Excellent condition. Image size (including text): 24 1/2 x 37 inches. Sheet size: 26 3/4 x 39 7/8 inches (approx).

In October 1971, employing the most faithful printing method available, the best materials and the ablest craftsmen of their age, the Amsterdam firm of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ltd., in conjunction with the Johnson Reprint Corporation of New York, set out to produce the finest possible limited edition facsimile of the greatest bird book ever printed: the Havell edition of John James Audubon's well-loved "Birds of America".

The Curators of the Teyler's Museum in Haarlem, Holland made their copy of the original work available for use as a model. The Museum, founded in 1778, bought their copy through Audubon's son as part of the original subscription in 1839. After long deliberation, the extremely complex but highly accurate process of colour photo-lithography was chosen as the appropriate printing method. The best exponents of this art were the renowned Dutch printing firm of NV Fotolitho Inrichting Drommel at Zandvoort who were willing to undertake the task of printing each plate in up to eight different colours.

The original Havell edition was published on hand-made rag paper and the publishers were determined that the paper of their edition should match the original. Unhappy with the commercially available papers, they turned to the traditional paper manufacturers G. Schut & Zonen (founded in 1625), who, using 100% unbleached cotton rags, were able to produce a wove paper of the highest quality, with each sheet bearing a watermark unique to the edition: G. Schut & Zonen [JR monogram] Audubon [OT monogram].

The publishers and their dedicated team completed their task late in 1972 and the results of these labours were affectionately known as the "Amsterdam Audubon." 250 copies were published and sold by subscription, with the plates available bound or unbound. Given all this careful preparation, it is not surprising that the prints have the look and feel of the original Havell edition.

John James Audubon was born in Les Cayes, Haiti on 26 April 1785. From 1788 to 1803 he lived in France until he was sent to the United States to manage an estate that his father had bought in Pennsylvania. He returned to France in 1805, but his fascination with the United States had taken root and he returned again in May 1806. He married Lucy Bakewell in 1808 and together they embarked on a difficult period financially that was only to be resolved, through Audubon's unshakable and justified belief in his own abilities, with the publication of his masterpiece in 1827-1838.

"The Birds of America" is the single greatest ornithological work ever produced and is the realization of Audubon's dream of traveling throughout the United States recording, natural size, every native bird then known. The 435 double-elephant folio sized plates, printed by the Havells of London, depict some 1,065 different species, the majority drawn from specimens that Audubon himself had captured.

The Havell edition was expensive at the time of publication and this has not changed. Possibly the last complete copy which will ever appear on the market sold for a staggering $8,802,500 in a sale in New York in March 2000. Currently, the increasingly rare individual plates from this edition, when they do appear, generally sell for between $5,000 and $175,000 depending on the image. The quality of the Amsterdam Audubon plates is apparent to any discerning collector and it is becoming ever clearer that they offer the most attractive alternative to the Havell edition plates, given the latter's spiraling prices. [$3,000.00]

Cf. Zimmer, p. 22; cf. Bennett, p. 5; cf. Fries, Appendix A; cf. Wood, p. 208; cf. Nissen IVB 51; cf. Sabin 2364; cf. Ripley 13; cf. Tyler, Audubon's Great National Work , 1993, Appendix I.

ETHIOPIC MANUSCRIPT – Manuscript in Ge-ez script on vellum. Late 19th century or early 20th century. Quarto in 10s and 12s. 192 vellum leaves: comprised of 2 blank leaves, 3 leaves with later drawings on one side only, 1 leaf with later drawing on recto and 9 lines of red and black text on verso, 180 leaves of text in red and black (20 lines per page, 18 pages with polychrome headpieces), 2 leaves with later text in black only, 4 blank leaves. [$2,750.00]

Red goatskin over wooden boards, elaborately panelled in blind, the panels composed from fillets and decorative rolls with occasional roundels, all surrounding a central panel tooled in blind with a Christian cross made up from fillets, decorative rolls and various small tools, the flat spine divided into three compartments with fillets in blind, the compartments similarly decorated with crossed fillets and roundels, red morocco doublures, elaborately tooled in blind, with small central approximately rectangular panel of dark blue velvet, within a red morocco inner slipcase with integral flaps, the exterior elaborately tooled in blind with tools that were also employed on the binding, and attached by straps to an outer carrying case of red morocco, this case with some stitched decoration but also tooled in blind with tools that were employed on the binding.

Provenance: Unidentified ink-stamp on final page of regular text

A beautiful and venerated object, and a reminder of an age before printing.

Unlike most books, the signs of wear on this bound manuscript are signs of care rather than neglect. It is usually spurious to talk of the patina of a book, but the tears, scuffs and careful amateur repairs to the exterior carrying case, the darkened area at one end of the inner slipcase and small worm smooth patch of board that is visible on the upper cover of the binding, these are all signs of a work that is esteemed, like the shining brass toe of a statue of a revered saint. The main body of the text appears to be in a single hand, in red and black ink, with occasional abstract headpieces in three or four colours.

É precisamente para eles que hoje escrevo este breve apontamento, onde não posso deixar de dizer o meu muito obrigado e quanto o seu apoio me sensibiliza e dá alento para seguir no meu modesto contributo para a divulgação da bibliofilia.

O percurso tem sido conturbado com “altos e baixos”, aliás como tudo na vida, mas julgo ter deixado transparecer sempre o meu amor pelo livro como objecto de arte e cultura e, simultaneamente tentar desmitificar o que é a bibliofilia, pois para muitos ainda é um passatempo elitista em vias de extinção.

De Gabriela Gouveia – Livros Antigos - Antiquário| Rua Marcos Portugal, 28-30 |1200-258 Lisboa | Portugal veja-se:

Quental (Antero de) - Poesias avulsas. Conjunto de 7 folhas volantes de poesias publicadas em Coimbra. Coimbra; Imp. da Universidade e Imp. Litteraria, 1862. In-8º de 8 folhas. - Enc. (Reservado)

Conjunto Muito Valioso pois estas folhas volantes são Raríssimas.

Para distribuição no Teatro Académico ou em saraus, Anthero escreve e publica estas folhas volantes com poesias, que em plena crise académica, assentam numa missão Revolucionária, Social e Moral Da Poesia.

O conjunto contém as seguintes poesias;

- Á Distincta Actriz Emilia das Neves e Sousa. - Ao Distinto Actor Simões na recita do seu beneficio em 22 de Março (1862). - Beijo, a Gabriella Florentina. - Gabriella Florentina. - Poesia de Anthero de Quental recitada na noite de 13 de Maio de 1862, no Theatro Academico. - A Gennaro Perrelli, ao artista e patriota italiano. - Á Italia. Poesia recitada no Theatro Academico por A. Fialho Machado, na noite de 22 de Outubro de 1862.

Dado o carácter efémero destas folhas volantes, impressas em papel muito fino e frágil, de cores diferentes, são hoje Raríssimas.

Excelente exemplar, encadernação simples, todas as folhas intactas e limpas.

Raríssima e Valiosa Peça de Colecção.

Estou certo que algumas vezes o tenha conseguido, mas em muitas outras ocasiões errei redondamente (...as minhas sinceras desculpas aos meus leitores).

Atravessámos momentos de grande crise nesta área, consequência da crise económica global e das suas repercussões em todos os países com especial reflexo na classe média, que era um dos pilares do coleccionismo e a principal clientela das livrarias-alfarrabistas, que face ao seu desaparecimento (embora não só, pois o disparar do valor dos arrendamentos também teve a sua importância) se viram forçadas a fechar as portas.

No entanto, outras formas de comercialização do livro (sobretudo na Internet) têm surgido e, ainda que não haja uma clara separação "do trigo do joio”, já se notam alguns dos seus frutos.

E vou terminar com uma temática, que tem sido fruto de uma conversa com o meu estimado amigo Jorge Telles Menezes da Alquimia Livros – o Ocultismo.

Da Les Portes Sombres – livres anciens, rares, occultes et étranges | 5, route de larribère | 64330 BALIRACQ.

SURIN, Histoire abrégée de la possesion des ursulines de Loudun. Paris, Au bureau de l'association du sacré-coeur, 1828. (2)+ 365 pp. + table. in-12  10,5 x 17  cm. Reliure  plein cuir, petits frottements. Papier avec rousseurs importantes sur les premières page (voir photo page de titre) plus éparses dans le reste de l'ouvrage.Tampon d'une bibliothèque religieuse sur la page de tite.

            

"L'ouvrage du Père Surin est certainement le plus extraordinaire qui ait été écrit sur cet épisode dramatique de la démonologie en France. On sait que ce religieux joua dans l'affaire un rôle très actif, en qualité d'exorciste et cruellement passif comme possédé.

Son point de vue mis hors de cause, restent les détails truculents de ce procès célèbre et parfois scabreux en ce qui concernent surtout les rigoureuses disciplines qu'il infligeait aux démons à travers la chair des malheureuses nonnes qui évidemment devaient hurler comme de beaux diables.

Tous ces sévices sont narrés avec une naïveté qui désarme. En dehors de sa curiosité même, l'ouvrage du Père Surin, qui contient en outre tout un traité de démonologie est un des plus rares sur la possession de Loudun."  Caillet

Caillet (III, 10444), Yve-Plessis (1307)

Estamos a assistir ao fim de uma geração de bibliófilos, que ao se desfazerem das suas grandes bibliotecas, na maioria em leilão – um pouco por todo o mundo – permitem que os seus livros, ao se dispersarem, irão enriquecer as bibliotecas da próxima geração: é o ciclo habitual da vida!

E assim com alguns novos exemplares entremeados (que não entremezes que são bastante mais curiosos...) fica esta modesta celebração tardia de uma data que para mim é festiva e já com um certo orgulho da mesma.

Saudações bibliófilas.