Collèges by Gaston Goor

Gaston Goor (1902-1977) was a highly accomplished, but controversial painter of adolescent boys, a metier that he pursued all of his adult life. Roger Peyrefitte, his principal patron for more than 30 years, commissioned a number of works on various themes, many of which decorated the walls of his Paris apartment. Although several books were planned of his work during his life, none were ever brought to fruition. Presented here for the first time is a collection of twenty color illustrations on various schoolboy themes from a series originally commissioned by Peyrefitte.

The edition is issued in two states: 1) a deluxe edition of twenty copies, each of which contains an original color pastel painting from the series, laid into an elaborate clamshell box.The images are laid into a chemise, along with a brief Introduction to the work by the publishers; 2) a regular edition of twenty copies issued in a chemise and slipcase.

The format is approximately 9" x 12", See illustration.

$2,250./$750

Ephebus Pergamensis Satiricon by Petronius Arbiter. Illustrated by Gaston Goor

A remarkable collection of forty color images by Gaston Goor, originally commissioned by Roger Peyrefitte to illustrate the section of the Satiricon known as the Ephebe of Pergamum. In his memoir, Peyrefitte described this extraordinary series as "un chef-d'oeurve d'illustration pédérastique qui ne sera jamais dépassé." Introduction by Simon Watney.

The format is 9" x 12" and the images are laid into a chemise and clamshell box. The edition is limited to twenty copies, the text printed letterpress on Arches in two colors.

$1,500

Printed letterpress in an edition of 50 press numbered copies, ten of which are hors commerce.

$85

The regular edition of The Prayer is limited to 100 copies, hand sewn in stiff wrappers of Fabriano paper. The typeface is Centaur and the paper is Somerset. $50.

The special edition of 26 lettered copies is bound in 1/4 leather and marbled paper boards and is signed by the author. $150.

1830 by Rene Crevel
[OP]

Originally published in French in 1926, this edition presents for the first time an English translation by the great Surrealist writer. The story involves the relationship of two lovers whose relationship spirals out of control on their wedding night. Noted artist Jonathan Hammer has contributed two soft ground etchings, which are hand colored and laid into the text. Also included is a photogravure portrait of Crevel by George Platt Lynes, who originally published the French edition.
Thirty copies printed on heavyweight Somerset paper.
The book measures 9" x 13" and is printed in two colors and is thirty-two pages in length. The typeface is Bodoni. The sheets are unbound and enclosed in glassine covered wrappers. Laid into a clamshell box lined in flesh colored silk.
All copies are signed by the artist. $950.

Denton Welch has achieved a kind of cult status among those enthusiasts who read and re-read his works and circulate treasured editions, now long out of print, among friends. When I Was an Art Student will undoubtdly strike a familiar chord among this group as it was later incorporated, in a different form, into his posthumously published novel, A Voice Through a Cloud. The story relates to Denton’s days as a student in London and clearly conveys his passion for life and the extraordinary powers of observation that permeate all of his writing. One of his friends called him “drunk without wine” and the reader can clearly feel the palpable energy and emotional struggles which radiate from his work. As William Burroughs has noted­­“Denton Welch makes the reader aware of the magic that is right under his eyes.”

When I Was an Art Student is published in an edition of 126 copies printed letterpress on handmade Alcantara papers. A self-portrait by the author is reproduced as a frontispiece to the edition. One hundred copies are numbered and bound in boards covered in blue Richard de Bas handmade papers and twenty-six copies are lettered and bound in handprinted fabric backed boards and enclosed in a slipcase.

9-1/2” x 7”. The regular edition is priced at $85, and the special edition is OP.

Dear Paul Dear Ned
by Paul Bowles and Ned Rorem
[OP]

For more than fifty years, the writer composers Paul Bowles and Ned Rorem have exchanged letters on a wide variety of subjects that encompass much of the artistic and literary scene of the post-War period. They originally met while traveling in Mexico in 1941, where Rorem, a music student at Northwestern University, was "bowled over" when Bowles played the music of Aaron Copland for him. Over the next few years, they met infrequently and Bowles moved to Tangier in 1947 and Rorem to Paris in 1949. Their paths crossed again when Rorem moved to Fez in 1950 and it was around this time that their correspondence began in earnest. This was a fertile period in both men's lives; Bowles had completed his widely acclaimed first novel, The Sheltering Sky and Rorem composed the suite From an Unknown Past, among other works. Although the circumstances of their lives kept them apart for long periods, the friends kept in touch regularly on a variety of subjects, including proposed collaborations; the unsettled state of Morocco; the upheavals of the Sixties; a harrowing account of a mescaline experience, as well as references to mutual friends, such as Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal and Leonard Bernstein.
Dear Paul Dear Ned chronicles this friendship in more than one hundred thirty letters, and includes an insightful Foreword by the authors' mutual friend, Gavin Lambert. Four photographs of the correspondents are tipped into the text, which is 141 pages in length.

The book was printed on Somerset laid papers and the typeface is Monotype Bembo.
Printed by hand on a Vandercook press, the book is 6 1/2" x 10" and is limited to three hundred twenty-six copies bound in blue linen.

The edition is priced at $150.

Local Colour
by William Plomer
[OP]

William Plomer was born in South Africa in 1903, but lived most of his life in England, where he was at the center of literary life for more than forty years. He was one of the most gifted men of English letters of this century, distinguished as a poet, novelist, librettist, biographer and editor. Despite his success during his lifetime, his works are now largely out of print and forgotten.

Greece was for Plomer what Italy was for E.M. Forster, one of his close friends for many years. Local Colour was originally published in a 1933 collection called The Child of Queen Victoria and deals with a fairly explicit homosexual theme. Plomer has described his stories set in Greece as “concerned with the pursuit of pleasure in spheres frugal, lazy and corrupt, haunted by the consciousness of ancient glory, and charged with vitality.” Like Forster, he often wrote about individuals who, despite their ostensible sophistication, appear ludicrous in an environment of uninhibited and simple pleasures.

Local Colour is presented here in an edition of seventy-five numbered copies printed letterpress on Somerset papers. Mark Mitchell has contributed a Foreword to the edition, which is bound in lilac fabric backed boards and printed in two colors. The typeface is Dante and the format is 6-1/2” x 10”.

The edition is priced at $85.

COCTEAU, Jean.
Les Enfants Terribles.
Elysium Press (1992).

One of 200 copies on Rives Heavyweight paper, printed letterpress. As issued in cream colored linen backed boards and slipcase. Thirty nine drawings by Cocteau accompany the text.

$325

Gar-an-Guli is the story of two boys growing up on the New England coast and their absorption in the tradition of the Naragansett tribe. Their "shaggy village" is the focus of the rituals that give meaning to their lives and frees them from the confusions of family life. While commemorating an epic tribal ritual, the boys confront a reality that they were unprepared for and that shadows their lives to come.

Paul Gervais is the author of Extraordinary People, a finalist for the 1991 Pen Faulkner award for fiction, and his work has been widely anthologized. He is also an accomplished artist and has illustrated the text with two original line drawings.

One hundred twenty-five copies printed letterpress on Somerset papers. The typeface is Gill Sans, the format is 10" x 6 3/4", and the book is 18 pages in length.

The edition is bound in handmade papers with a hemp and fabric spine. The drawings are reproduced in a second color.
$75.

Fine as issued in marbled wrappers. One of two hundred numbered copies printed by hand. Frontispiece portrait by Balthus. An essay on memoir writing, with reflections on many of the creative artists of the century, including Giacometti, Picasso and Mann.

$45.

LORD, James
Making Memoirs
Elysium Press (1995)

Fine as issued in marbled paper backed boards, slipcase. One of twenty-six lettered copies, signed by the author, with a holograph page from the manuscript laid in at the back of the book.

$150

Fine as issued. Introduction by Philip Hoare. One of two hundred hand numbered copies printed letterpress. Previously unpublished stories by this eccentric Englishman, along with numerous illustrations by the author, seven in full color. Bound in English wallpaper backed boards, 1/4 silk spine, boxed.

$145

Foreword by Edmund White, Illustrated by Pierre Le-Tan. Set and printed by hand on Arches. Bound in black linen. 50 pp. One of 130 copies.

OP

Special edition. Signed by Edmund White with an original etching by Pierre Le-Tan. One of twenty copies in a black linen clamshell box.

OP

David Leavitt is the author of seven highly acclaimed books, including Family Dancing and The Lost Language of Cranes. His stories have appeared in The New Yorker and a variety of other publications and he is recognized as one of the most original of contemporary novelists.

Crossing St. Gotthard is the story of a trip through the nine-mile tunnel of St. Gotthard in the Swiss Alps, the beginning of an Italian grand tour. Leavitt constructs a compelling tale of two boys, escorted by their mother and their cousin, who is acting as tutor, and the hidden emotions that guide them on their journey. The story focuses on the boys' cousin, Harold, and his acutely self-conscious behavior that blends both levity and pathos.

This first edition of Crossing St. Gotthard is issued in an edition of 185 copies: 10 copies were printed on handmade Cartiera Sicars papers, bound in black Niger leather with marbled endpapers, signed by the author and slipcase ($425.); 75 copies were printed on Somerset paper and bound in brown wool flannel ($150.); and 100 copies are bound in marbled paper wrappers ($75.). All copies were printed letterpress and the typeface is Bembo.

A short story about a penpal relationship between Marraine, ostensibly a middle aged provincial French spinster, and a French legionnaire serving in the Far East. Jullian paints an amusing portrait of this long distance courtship and brings the tale to a surprising conclusion. Printed letterpress in an edition of 150 copies, with illustrations by the author. $50