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.