Rare books, manuscripts, music, ephemera…
17th September 2020
Under ordinary circumstances, I would have been in Paris today, for the opening this evening of the annual Salon international du Livre rare. But I am in still in beechy Buckinghamshire, enjoying instead some late summer sunshine. My mind, however, has turned to French books, and one in particular which I have at the moment. […]
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29th July 2020
There’s always a danger in book history when you suggest you may have found the first instance of something, but I wonder: could this be the first blank bookplate, i.e. ones that are pre-printed with ‘This book belongs to …’ that you then fill in yourself with your name? These block-printed covers were produced in […]
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14th July 2016
This scarce satirical etching, The Beaux Nurses, refers to the controversy and protest surrounding a French theatrical company, nicknamed the ‘French Strollers’, who applied for and were granted a licence to perform at the Haymarket in the winter of 1749. Their arrival occasioned much discontent; as the Scots Magazine reported, they were ‘bitterly pelted in […]
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23rd May 2016
Last week, I wrote about a book printed on coloured paper which I shall be exhibiting at the forthcoming London International Antiquarian Book Fair. Here are two more: These charming little books are two popular local guides for French and English passengers travelling along the Seine from Paris to the sea. Both were published […]
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