Nieuwsbrief 673: Vita brevis ars longa

In het eerste weekend van oktober vindt in het Marriott Hotel Amsterdam, hartje centrum, de Amsterdam International Antiquarian Book Fair plaats. Meer dan 50 antiquariaten, uit binnen- en buitenland, presenteren zich. Wij zijn uiteraard ook van de partij. Daarnaast worden er tijdens de beurs leuke activiteiten georganiseerd. Bas “Tussen Kunst & Kitsch” Hesselink taxeert uw boeken, Reinder Storm en Adriaan Plak geven persoonlijke rondleidingen over de beursvloer. We hopen u op 1 of 2 oktober te mogen begroeten. Gratis entree.

Vooruitlopend op deze belangrijke beurs heeft de Nederlandsche Vereeniging van Antiquaren een gezamenlijke catalogus uitgebracht. NVvA-leden presenteren in deze jaarlijkse Joint Catalogue mooie boeken en zeldzame aanwinsten.

Onze Engelstalige bijdrage vindt u in deze nieuwsbrief. Eventuele vragen over deze items beantwoorden wij graag en op verzoek leveren we een vertaling van de beschrijving.

In the first weekend of October at the Marriott Hotel Amsterdam (near the Leidseplein), the Amsterdam International Antiquarian Book Fair takes place. Over 50 antiquarian bookshops present themselves. We are of course also present. We hope to see you at October 1 or 2 (Free entrance).

Ahead of this important exhibition, the Dutch Association of Antiquarian Booksellers released a Joint Catalog. In this catalog, NVvA members present beautiful books and rare acquisitions.

Our contribution can be found in this newsletter. We are happy to answer any questions about these items.

Publisher’s copy with original signed drawing

(ISRAËLS, Jozef). DAKE, Carel L. Jozef Israëls. Amsterdam, C.L.G. Veldt, [1910]. 32 x 25 cm. Original gilt and decorated vellum. 82 p. Printed in dark red and black. Richly illustrated. 1st edition.
€ 990
* This is one of 50 deluxe copies, numbered and signed by the artist, bound in vellum with gold lettering and a picture of a drawing by Jozef Israëls (1824-1911). This is number 3, the copy of the publisher.
Added: Original pen drawing by Israëls, that was reproduced on the upper cover of the book. Signed by Jozef Israëls. Under his drawing, the painter wrote ‘Wel. Heer Veldt/ Hiernevens een kleine krabbel/ van iets dat niet dikwijls voorkomt/ en naar mijn weten nog niet gereproduceerd/ is./ Uw dw dr Jozef Israëls’. Ca. 17 x 11 cm. Framed behind glass.
And: Proof of the binding (without contents), dark red and green cloth, in slightly larger size. Two trials, one at the upper and one at the lower cover.

Original letters, dedication copies, autograph poems

LORRAIN, Jean Large collection of 85 books and magazines by and about Jean Lorrain. 58 early books (from 1882 to 1957) and 20 more recent ones, including 4 translations (into Dutch and English). Plus 2 old books that mention Lorrain sidedishwise, and 5 fin de siècle magazines.
Reserved
* Jean Lorrain (1855-1906), a symbolist writer turned decadentistic, presenting himself as a ‘dandy of the mire’, catering gothic novelettes, but also chronicles of contemporary life, full of slurs and slander to the sensation-hungry reader. A great stylist, a master of masks who tampered with drugs, died a syphilitic and drug addict. His doting mother lived on for another 20 years, providing material to his Eckermann, the author Georges Normandy who was able to enhance Lorrains reputation as an author in the 20s and 30s. Never quite forgotten, there was a Lorrain revival in the carefree Sixties and the studious Eighties, fostering many publications also included in this collection.
This is an arsenal of 44 different titles with 14 reprints and differing duplicates, comprising 5 books with a lengthy dedication by Jean Lorrain, 3 with inserted letters by him and 2 with autograph poems; his first three titles, nice original illustrated wrappers, some fantastically illustrated books and several books and other publications about Lorrain. This collection, measuring two shelves, is a grandiose addition for any Lorrain specialist or library.

Black Jack by Mapplethorpe

MAPPLETHORPE a.o., Robert Vita brevis ars longa. Rotterdam/ New York, Publishing House Bébert, 1984. 33 x 33 cm. Black cloth box printed in silver and black. Five original art works. 12 leaves of heavy Hahnemühle card stock with 4 protection leaves. 1. Original photograph by Gerald van der Kaap. 2. Original drawing by Peter Klashorst. 3. Silkscreen by Robert Longo. 4. Original photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe. 5. 12″ record with music by Bob Pieck. All contributions numbered and signed by the artists (only Klashorst’s drawing, being unique, has not been numbered), whereas Mapplethorpe’s photo (31,8 x 31,8 cm), ‘Black Jack’, was also signed by the model, Jack Walls (both signatures on the verso protecting sheet). Graphic design and idea by Pablo van Dijk. Printed in 75 numbered copies. 1st edition. Fine.
sold
* The superb Mapplethorpe photo, a portrait of his iconic model Jack Walls, landed between Peter Klashorst’s rough “After Nature” drawing and Longo’s colorful silkscreen photo. Curiously enough, several of the artists also may be heard on the musical record by Bob Pieck: Van der Kaap played the clarinet, Longo and Klashorst the guitar, and Walls and Klashorst were singing. Better known in the world of music are George Peckham, Rat Scabies, Warne Livesey and Rutger van Otterloo, all working together to make special pieces of music. A verily eclectic collection of modern artworks, all circling around Mapplethorpe’s Black Jack photo.

Avant-garde deluxe

OSTAIJEN, Paul van Bezette stad. (Cover and woodcuts by Oskar Jespers). Antwerp, Het Sienjaal, 1921. 29 x 23 cm. Original decorated folding wrappers. (154) p. Uncut. Typography after the instructions of Oscar Jespers and René Victor, printed in an edition of 540 numbered copies. 1st edition. With the errata sheet.
€ 11.000
* The most important book of the foremost avant-garde author in the Dutch language! This is one of only 40 deluxe copies printed on Vergé d’Arches. The very delicate dadaist wrappers are (as always) a bit soiled, but the book is in excellent order, and completely unrestored.

I, The King

PHILIP II OF SPAIN, King Letter Signed to Henry of Valois, Duke of Anjou, later King Henry III of France. Dated ‘Madrid a xxiiii. de Novembre 1572′. Written by a secretary, Gabriel de Cayas, with his signature. Folded leaf of paper with circular watermark. 30 x 21 cm. 10 lines in a neat chancellor’s hand, with Philip’s signature ‘Yo El Rey’ (I, The King) and ‘buen Germano de.v.al’ (‘de vuestra alteza’ = Good Brother of Your Highness). Folded as an envelope with address in the secretary’s manuscript and in a cursive hand ‘La Depesche du Conte d’Arembergue’ (The Message of the Count d’Aremberg’). Traces of a wax seal. Some creasing and light browning. (Added: an extensive background dossier (partly in Dutch), including publications on the House of Aremberg.)
Sold
* King Philip (1527-1598) wishes Henry of Anjou (1551-1589) luck with the birth of the daughter of his older brother, King Charles IX of France (1550-1574). He sends this letter to the Duke through Count Charles of Aremberg (1550-1616), who performed diplomatic services for him. The Duke of Anjou is invited to trust the Count of Aremberg in everything, to believe all he will say on behalf of Philip, and tell the Count whatever Anjou wants to happen. Philip will endeavor to provide Anjou with all the good will he is well-known for.
Henry of Anjou was the younger brother of Elisabeth of Valois (1545-1568), Philip’s third wife. But the term ‘buen germano’ might as well be a formula of courtesy.
You should see this letter in the light of the massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day, when the leaders of the Protestant party in France were slaughtered, which had taken place three months earlier. Philip was excited about that bloody reckoning, it is the only time that is known of the King, that he laughed! The ambitious Duke of Anjou was regarded by many of his contemporaries as an important instigator of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. No doubt Philip was keen to keep Henry of Anjou on his side. The promise with the well-known goodwill refers to bribery.

One-of-a-kind presentation copy

REVE, Gerard Drie woorden. Utrecht, Reflex, 1981. 29 x 22 cm. Original full morocco (Phoenix Bindery). (32) p. Printed in facsimile in an edition of 11 numbered and signed copies. 1st edition. Spine a bit discolored.
sold
* This is one of only 2 copies not for sale, marked ‘H.C.’ and signed by the author, with a draft of the original manuscript, in a one-of-a-kind deluxe binding, with an autograph signed dedication by Reve to Joop Schafthuizen: ‘Dat facsimile van een prachtverhaal/ is voor Matroosje Vosch./ Schiedam, 18 Februari 1981/ GerardReve.’
Ordinary copies of this extremely rare edition were bound in cloth. Of the 2 existing copies H.C., this is the only one bound in full dark gray morocco by master bookbinder David Simaleavich on behalf of Reve’s partner Schafthuizen.
A unique presentation copy.

A lunatic’s notebook

SMIT, W.L. Tiny notebook with 29 drawings, written in March 1889. 13 x 8 cm. Black cloth cover. (64) p. graph paper with a manuscript, written in a tiny hand. The first two pages are a printed Almanac for the year 1889. Drawings on 29 of the right pages, often heightened with purple watercolor and blue crayon. Drawings slightly discolored, but the document is in very good condition.
sold
* Handwritten notes by a Mr. W.L. Smit from Amsterdam, who stayed in the lunatic asylum Meerenberg (near Santpoort). A fantastic personal notebook of a man who described himself as insane. He was however perfectly able to express himself in his writings and drawings, and it appears he had been working as a translator and a language teacher. Memories, thoughts and outbursts, partly written in doggerel, in a consequent but very self-willed orthography. Some sections are in German, French or Italian, but largely the text is Dutch.

Het Leve is 1 Kunst en 1 Streid
Heeft Dominé Weisz ons eens geseid
En waar die Kunst te leeren is
Dat is in Meerenberg gewis

Contains thoughts about his younger days and various family members, observations of circuses and other amusements, streets in Amsterdam with detailed drawings, memories of his stays in Medemblik and Paris (where he learnt to sleep naked between two blankets, so the itchy wool scrapes away the slag and evaporations of the body). The booklet effectively connects the higher and the lower parts of the human spirit. You may read it again and again, without fully comprehending what this ‘lunatic’ tells you. W.L. Smit shows you all the corners of his mind.
According to a dedication on the first page, the grateful patient offered this booklet to young psychiatrist Gerbrand Jelgersma (1859-1942), who later gave it to a nephew.