Item 16 is a rare and obscure flower book from the 1820s entitled Ten Lithographic Coloured Flowers with Botanical Descriptions drawn and coloured by a Lady. For starters, you're going to get four times your money's worth with this one. There are 40 flowers. Evidently, three more sections were added after the title page was printed. The author/artist of this work is unknown (other than that she was a lady). While not quite another Redoute, the lady's artistic skills were still quite developed and the book has been described as "a delightful work very carefully drawn and coloured." Pages facing the plates show both English and Latin names along with a description of the flower. $6,500.

 

Item 53 is The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, the 1872 third edition of the Fitzgerald translation from Bernard Quaritch. Normally, this is an inexpensive book. This is not a normal copy. This is not a book to be opened, as it is valued strictly for the binding. The cover shows the image of a peacock, 31 radiating tail feathers each leading to a set garnet. Five pearls have been inlaid in the peacock's crest. This is one of the fantastic bindings from the London firm of Sangorski and Sutcliffe, probably from around 1910. $37,500.

 

John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller may be reached at 415-986-5826 or john@johnwindle.com. The website is www.johnwindle.com.