Theo van Hoytema

Theo van Hoytema is of course famous for its picture book Hoe de vogels aan een Koning kwamen, Het lelijke jonge eendje and Uilengeluk (How the birds came to a King, The Ugly Duckling and The happy owles). But he's also widely known for the calendars that he made between 1902 and 1918: lithographs of animals and birds. In my Friday list you will find nine sheets from 1912 and The happy Owls.

 

See
http://www.antiquariaatverzameldwerk.nl/catalogi/Vrijdaglijstje% 2022% 20 (ills.). doc

 

Italian

I did put some Italian literature in my Fridaylist, last Friday. It's so cold these days that literature from warmer regions is welcome. It's remarkable that many Italian authors that I happen to like have names starting with a 'p': Pavese, Pirandello, Pittigrilli, Pasolini, Petrarca, da Ponte. Remarkable indeed, but that wasn't what I was going to tell. Even more remarkable are the covers of some Dutch translations in the twenties or thirties of last century. None of the two I'm showing you here mention the artist of the cover, yet they are pretty, aren't they?

Erasmus

Erasmus was with his Praise of Folly in 1511 ahead of its time. More than 300 years later, in 1847, the Dutch linguistic P.G. Witsen Geysbeek thought it still worth the effort to make a new translation of this controversial book. The cover says that the book was published in Rotterdam, at J.F.K.  Schwaebe. On the title page, however, the Brothers Diederichs are mentioned as the publishers. And the date on the title page is not 1847 (like on the cover), but 1828. Although the back of this book is badly damaged, the book block is intact and also hand colored frontispiece of R.H.B. van de Meulen is impressive. And ... it is not expensive.

An interesting find

Boudewijn Büch was, except novelist, poet and columnist, a radio and television producer as well. In this latter capacity we learned about Büchs preference for islands. The most evocative island of course is Easter Island (Rapanui). Especially because it's so secluded and because of its large statues along its coasts.

In the nineties Büch often stopped by our stand when we were at large bookfairs. One of his questions always was “Do you have any books on islands?” If he asked me that same question right now, Boy, would I have a surprise for him!

And a surprise for me as well… The book came out of a long forgotten box. I got an offer to come look at some books. I decided I would take three boxes and without even carefully looking into them at that moment I took them with me.

It wasn’t until months later I finally found the time to open the boxes that I realised what I had bought! This is one of those moments a lonesome antiquarian bookseller lives for!

I currently happen to be the lucky owner of one of the rarest, or perhaps THE rarest book on EasterIsland that exists. It is a German book from 1883 about a journey made ​​in 1882 to Easter Island. This trip is considered to be the first ethnological expedition to the island.

Die Oster-Insel by Kapitänleutenant Geiseler.

Under the publisher name Sub Signo libelli Ger Kleis has issued a bibliophile series known for its beautiful printing and good workmanship. Nothing fancy, as you often see antiquarian titles from these series. Coincidentally, I encountered a Sub Signo Libelli title together with a booklet of the Arethusapers. The Arethusa printing press issued a bibliophile series that was published by Herbert Blokland. So far so good, but why am I telling all this?

See for yourself. The difference is quite big. A book like this would have ended in the dustbin of Kleis.

Hesse's Siddhartha

I must have been sixteen or seventeen years old when I read Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. Then I read Demian and although I was impressed with it, I did not read Narziss und Goldmund, like many others did. I wasn't going to read anymore Hesse. Though usually, when I read two books by an author, both well, I like to read more of that particular writer. Anyway, with Hesse this was not the case.

 

Last week I found a first edition of Siddhartha, I hardly could believe my eyes. It really was the first edition of the book that had made a great impression not only with me, but with my entire generation. And it is with this book that Hesse definitively established his name as a writer. He became famous worldwide. 

The spine of the book is slightly damaged and the endpapers are a bit rusty, but otherwise it's a very nice copy of a rare and important book. It's on sale for 450 euros.

E. van Moerkerken

It is perhaps already the fifth time that I offer for sale: Reportages by photographer E. van Moerkerken. Everytime I browse it briefly and everytime I am struck by the stunning black and white photos. This time I noticed, for example, a young Simon Carmiggelt.

Deventer book city

The last week of 2012 I visited Deventer. Roos-Marie and me walked along the IJssel river from Deventer to Olst. The river had burst its banks. In some places it was wider than half a mile. Formations of geese were flying by constantly. Their honking (gakgakgak) guided our footsteps. A rain-free morning, the weather forecast had predicted.They had it right, this time. We had a fantastic walk. Around half past four we arrived in Olst and it started raining. We took the train back to Deventer and walked into town, looking for our hotel (www.hoteldeleeuw.nl).

The next day I visited several antiquarian bookshops and regular ones (Deventer has a lot of them, far more than Nijmegen and wé do have a university and twice as many inhabitants as Deventer!!!). I bought a lot in different shops. I am particularly happy with a first edition of Mystiek Lichaam (Mystical Body) by Frans Kellendonk and with Fabula Rasa of Gaston Burssens, illustrated by J. Cantré and printed in 200 copies. 

I also paid a visit to the famous Athenaeum Library where I bought a small book about Geert Groote and his Modern Devotion movement. I came to know that in the fifteenth century, there were special houses for women. These houses were no monasteries, but the women who lived there devoted their lives to God. Rector Egbert ter Beke wanted two adjacent womenhouses to merge. He broke off the compound wall between the two houses without consulting the women. In this way,Ter Beke stated, women would be better supported in their desire to lead a pious life. Maybe I'm suspicious, but when I read this I couldn’t help thinking that Ter Beke might had other interests.

A good sign. 2013

2013. A new year. A good sign. Fresh start, new energy, stuff like that. In the nineties we were publishers as well. We didn't do that for a long period. It took too much time and we hardly made a profit. It was fun though and we produced some really nice books. Most of them can be considered as artistbooks. 'Een goed teken' (A good sign) is one of them. It's a poem by J.B.Charles, printed in 35 copies by Martien Frijns.

I loved the poem and together with a friend of mine I used the poem in a piece of music. You can hear it and see it as well. This is a (poor) translation:

That's where the man stopped,

He picked up the object

and held it in front of him

to take a good look at it

he turned it upside down

and back again

and concluded with satisfaction:

this is a good sign.

Franz Melchers

I bought this beautiful book. But it is in bad shape. Nevertheless, it still is a very special book, It’s famous and it’s rare, though 1070 copies have been printed. The cover says it’s been printed in 1847. But that’s a mistake. It’s 1897. The book is called l’An (The Year) and contains poems by Thomas Braun and 16 colored woodblock landscapes by Franz Melchers.

The book is no longer a book, actually, it’s a collection of loose pages. But… a collection of ALL the pages. The edges are worn, have some tears and sometimes tiny holes (these plates have been pinned to a wall, I guess). But –important!- nowhere there’s a loss of text –or even more important- of the beautiful landscapes. (Only one illustration has a very small imperfection on the right corner above) Furthermore: the coloring still is fresh and radiant.

I wondered whether to restore the book and have it rebound. But I decided not to. I leave the book the way it is now. I had a box made, a beautifully made flat box with a photocopy of the cover of the book on the lid. Quite an expensive box, but I think it’s worth it. See for yourself.

Beautiful parchment

Riding my bike the other day I caught myself humming ‘I’m so excited’.

Why was that? It was because I was finally (it had taken weeks of careful negotiations) going to buy two full parchment volumes in splendid condition: stunning white and without any spots.

The first volume is one of the thirty luxury copies of Jan Plasschaerts monograph of Jan Toorop, signed by Toorop (1925). The second volume is a monograph of Willem Witsen (1860-1923) by N. van Harpen. 

Both are so vulnerable, but yet so fresh, they are a sight for sore eyes. See for yourself:

A visit to Fokas

Today I visited Fokas Holthuis in The Hague. In the late eighties Fokas studied in Nijmegen and helped us in our shop. Even as a young student he loved the expensive stuff. He was willing, no, better: he was eager to work 50 or 60 hours for one nice booklet printed by Maurice Laudy of the Renildis Press.

He started a business of his own and is very succesfull. He just returned from Mechelen where he -last weekend- presented his Catalogue Hugo Claus. A very fine catalogue with very special books and lots of illustrations. Besides the fact that Claus should have been given the Nobel Prize, as far as I'm concerned, he deserves a tribute like this.

Charles Cros

Last Sunday I paid my good friend Han a visit. The both of us started Antiquariaat Verzameld Werk in 1985. Han left in 2006 and set up a business of his own, Grafiet. However, his work at the Honors Academy of our Radboud University is taking more and more of his time, leaving less and less for Grafiet. So he decided to give up his business. (It’s not a full stop; he will continue making an occasional catalogue, every now and then, just for fun.)

Last weekend Han said goodbye to all his customers and began selling off almost all his ‘stuff’ (That’s the word he uses). I bought some books. Among them CROS, CHARLES Les 4 saisons. Une suite de poems, the first edition was printed by H.v.Krimpen in 1944. This is the 1946-reprint and I know it’s not rare and I know it’s hard to sell these days, but I think it’s a lovely booklet. I like the quality of the paper, the typography and the colors of the ink. A sight for sore eyes!

knorrende beesten

For lovers of Dutch literature of the 20th century the first edition of Bordewijks ‘knorrende beesten’ (1932) is a well known and  collectible item. The story is a very modern tale about cars. Typography and cover are by Kees Strooband.

I saw it listed in a catalogue and bought it (€ 110). It wasn’t that expensive and the lady that sold it to me said it was a nice copy. When the book arrived a week ago it appeared  to be even nicer than I intentionally thought it was.

It was inscribed by Roel Houwink, a literary critic who reviewed knorrende beesten in Opwaartsche Wegen in 1934. There was a second owners’ entry: A. Dreesman, the man who was responsible for the expansive growth of V&D in the Netherlands. Always good to know that a captain of Industry did buy antiquarian books.

A couple of days later I placed knorrende beesten on my Friday list (€ 200) and mentioned Houwink and Dreesman. Sadly I only had one copy and had to disappoint two other potential buyers.