A Wide-Ranging and Eclectic Mix from Voewood Rare Books

Voewood Rare Books has released their Catalogue Six. I will let them introduce it with a few words from the beginning: “We hope you enjoy this catalogue which is, we think, even more eclectic and wide-ranging than usual.” Eclectic it is, with everything from Chaucer and Shakespeare to items of uncertain appropriateness to artistic creations, arts and crafts movement and fine bindings, poetry, photography and works about photography, historic events, law, war and peace, and War and Peace, plus more. Whatever interests you, it is probably in here somewhere (so is whatever disinterests or even repels you). Wide-ranging and eclectic it is. These are a few selections.

When Christopher Columbus “discovered” America in the eyes of Europeans, it set off a period of colonization and often brutal treatment of the inhabitants of those lands. Spain, by whom Columbus was employed, enslaved many of the inhabitants and treated them brutally. Columbus himself was guilty of such misconduct. Few rose to defend these people, but Bartholome de las Casas was an exception. Las Casas came to Hispaniola in 1502, acquiring land and slaves. However, having witnessed the cruelty of the colonizers, he gave up his slaves and turned to opposing what he saw. He became a Dominican friar and preached against the brutal Spanish encomienda system. Unwelcome by colonial authorities in America, he returned to Spain to argue his case, but had little success. However, he did get his message out, and this is his polemic, Narratio Regionvm Indicarvm per Hispanos Qvosdam devastarum verissimi: prius quidem per Episcopum Bartholemaeum Casaum, natione Hispanum Hispanice conscripta... (A very true account of the ravages of the region of India by the Spaniards: written first in Spanish by Bishop Bartholome Casas, a native of Spain). This is a copy of the second Latin edition of 1614, and contains the engravings of Theodor de Bry. The illustrations helped to make clear just how brutal Spanish rule was. The book would be used by the English and Protestants to attack Spanish and Catholic rule, not that they were pillars of kindness and generosity either. Item 37. Priced at £6,000 (British pounds, or approximately $7,470 in U.S. dollars).

This is a photographic album of a major event in World War II, the announcement of the Atlantic Charter. Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met in Newfoundland in August 1941 where they drew up a list of principles for the world to implement at the end of the war. It provided for numerous positive things, such as self-determination for nations, no territorial changes, freedom of the seas, reduced trade barriers, disarmament of aggressors. Of course, this was all theoretical at the time as the war was ongoing, America had not yet even entered it, and things weren't looking all that well for England and its allies. Roosevelt wanted to do all he could to support England, but isolationist sentiment in the U.S. limited his options. This enabled him to at least provide moral support. Four months later, he was able to provide physical support, after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Item 35 is an album of 31 photographs compiled by the Argentinian news agency Ahora Periodico Illustrado. £3,500 (US $4,355).

If you are an autograph collector with £25,000, you have just reached heaven. You can retire. This is a copy of The American Film Directors Volume I by Maureen Lambray, published in 1976. It contains 94 leaves followed by 82 photographs of American film directors. It belonged to Herb Yellin. Yellin was a publisher (Lord John Press) who issued beautifully printed and bound limited editions. He carried this book around with him for years, obtaining the autographs of the famous people from Hollywood. He succeeded in getting them from over 800 actors and directors. Personal inscriptions from some indicate he had many friends in Hollywood. Voewood provides a brief A-to-Z list of some of the people who signed the book - Woody Allen, John Boorman, George Clooney, Judi Dench, Clint Eastwood, Federico Fellini, Jeff Goldblum, Tippi Hedren, Alfred Hitchcock, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, Jack Lemmon, Ian McKellen, Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Leni Riefenstahl, Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Turner, Liv Ullmann, Jon Voight, Fay Wray, Michael York and Terry Zwigof. Hitchcock has even added his line-drawing of his profile next to his photo, the one he used in the introduction to his 50s-60s television show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. You would have a heck of a time getting so many of these famous Hollywood personalities to sign their autographs for you, especially those who are no longer living. Item 22. £25,000 (US $31,142).

Voewood describes this as “the first modern artist's book.” It came from photographer Edward Ruscha. Ruscha liked to take a lot of photos of something, in this case it's Twentysix Gasoline Stations, published in 1962. In one sense, this is as banal as it gets. Twenty-six gas stations, captioned only with their name and location. These weren't particularly notable-looking stations, no Buc-ee's with their 100+ pumps. These look mostly like small, rural stations, unspectacular as it comes. Ruscha used to travel from Texas to his parents' home in Oklahoma and there was a lot of empty space along Route 66 in the early 1960s. Nonetheless, it captures a part of the American dream of the era, the long road trip across the West in your automobile. While the book goes west to east, Ruscha's life journey went the other way, as he was happy to escape Oklahoma for California, like the Steinbeck's Joad family before him. Offered is a first edition, number 180 of 400, signed by Ruscha. Item 40. £5,750 (US $7,165).

This is a major work in the history of English jurisprudence. The book is De legibus & consuetudinibus Angliae... (the laws and customs of England), by Henry de Bracton. This is a first edition, first printed edition anyway, from 1581. It was printed by Richard Tottell, who had the license as the sole printer of the common law in England. The book is much older than the printed edition, or any printed book, as Bracton lived in the 13^th century, writing this book most likely in the period from 1250-1260. It was only the second book to attempt to account for English law, and far more thorough than Glanville's earlier work. Bracton had access to English legal cases from which he was able to determine and describe English common law. That is law based not so much on statutes but on precedents set in legal cases. The work was so well-regarded that it remained in use through the 18^th century. Item 3. £9,500 (US $11,835).

Voewood Rare Books may be reached at +44 (0) 1263 715539, andrew@voewood.com or simon@simonfinch.com. Their website is found at www.voewoodrarebooks.com.