A few days ago, I walked into a thrift store and there high on a bookshelf was a disbound, large volume in a plastic bag to keep it together. As readers of my musings know, the first thing I
check out is the condition of the book. And as I have repeated many times, the value of a book is based on three things, condition, importance and scarcity. If you have all three – Bingo! Sometimes two will do. I took the item from the shelf looked at the title and knew that I wanted it. I bought it without taking it out of the bag. Not for the book business but for the personal library. I was not disappointed.
Livre D’Or du Bibliophile 1926-1927; Préface de Clément-Janin; édite par la Chambre Syndicale des Editeurs de Livres D’Art et de Publications a Tirage Limité; Siege Social: Cercle de la Librairie, 117, Boulevard Saint-Germaine, a Paris. (published by The Trade Union of Publisher of Art Books and Limited Edition Publications, Paris)
This large volume, 13” x 10”, is a prospectus of books to be published in the years 1926 and 1927 by high-end Art and Limited Edition publishers. Each of the dozens of publishers had their “title page” followed by one to eight samples of the works in progress. I would assume that the more pages the higher the cost to the publisher.
While the volume is disbound, the contents are in fine condition. The paper, printing and illustrations are of the highest calibre. As noted in the title this is the “Deuxieme” edition. The “Premier” edition covered 1925 and the “Troisieme” edition covered 1928 and 1929.
Here are some of the publishers “title pages” followed by an example of their works in progress.
My muse, Sabrina
Sabrina lives on the shoreline of St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia. She has been there for a long, long time. She doesn’t get around much, but she enjoys being in the salt water. She changes her hair style twice a day and changes her glasses to fit the weather conditions and her temperament.
I walked past Sabrina almost every day for the past twenty some years, first with Gryphon and then with Freyja, our wonderful Belgian Shepherds. Now, I walk by Sabrina by myself.
She started to reach out to me just over the past couple of years. I started to stop and look at her beautiful hair and she started to respond to my attention by planting thoughts in my head. Good thoughts, encouraging thoughts, stimulating thoughts, influential thoughts. She has become my muse. Although, I must confess some days she is stone-faced and refuses to talk to me. Thankfully, not often.
