Friendliest Book Shop Ever

Welcome to the Friendliest Book Shop Ever!

Step into a world of literary treasures, where books aren’t just objects—they’re doorways to adventure, knowledge, and discovery. We specialize in rare and antiquarian books, art and science volumes, and a massive sci-fi collection that spans classic works to obscure gems.

Whether you’re a collector hunting for a lost edition, an art lover searching for inspiration, or a sci-fi fan looking for your next intergalactic escape, we’ve got something for you. Every book we offer is carefully selected, and many are one-of-a-kind finds—so grab them while they last!

Browse, explore, and enjoy—because books are meant to be held, read, loved, appreciated and respected. You’re among a dying breed of book-lovers — bibliophiles. Enjoy it while you can.

A Flight of Butterflies

This was written in the spring of 1904 by Yoshi Zo at the House of Yoshida in Kyoto. The translation is in part from the preface of an early edition. The book is primarily a series of color illustrations of butterflies. Exquisite full-color plates depict over 200 winged beauties, soaring and drifting across the pages in apparently seamless flight. Accordion folding, printed one side. Unfolds to become a 31-foot-long tapestry evoking the grace, movement, color, and delicacy of butterflies, which the Japanese artist used as symbols for the brightly clad dancing girls of his dream. This is printed on specially-made paper and bound in Japan by Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. Slipcase has some wear and soiling. Hardcover, single flowing accordion-folded sheet between two hard covers, protected in slipcase. Title: A Flight of Butterflies Publisher: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Thames and Hudson, New York Publication Date: 1979 Binding: Hardcover Illustrator: George Laws (modern calligraphy), facsimile copies Condition: Fine — $100.00

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GEHENNA PRESS – Gillian Tyler

GEHENNA PRESS — “There Was a Child Went Forth” is a poem by Walt Whitman, first published in 1855 as part of his collection Leaves of Grass. The poem reflects on a child’s experiences and how they shape his identity, capturing the essence of growth and self-discovery.

In 1968, the Gehenna Press released a special edition of this poem, featuring wood engravings by the late celebrated artist Gillian Tyler, who passed in January, 2024.

This very sought-after edition was limited to only 200 copies, with the first 100 printed on Nideggen paper and signed by the artist. The Gehenna Press, founded by Leonard Baskin, was renowned for its fine press books, often collaborating with artists to create beautifully illustrated editions. Howard McGrath printed the woodcuts, which is what makes this book so valuable to collectors.

This is from the un-numbered copies as issued, thus.

Gillian Tyler’s wood engravings in this edition complement Whitman’s text, offering a visual interpretation that enhances the reader’s experience. The combination of Whitman’s evocative poetry and Tyler’s intricate engravings makes this edition a sought-after piece for collectors and admirers of fine press publications.

Fine copy, large folio, $2,750.00

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Merle Armitage – THE LITHOGRAPHS OF RICHARD DAY

1st ed 1/500 with Beautiful WPA Style Original Pencil-Signed Lithograph. RARE.

Author: [RICHARD DAY] ARMITAGE, Merle
Title: The Lithographs of Richard Day. Foreword by Carl Zigrosser
Publication: New York: E. Weyhe, 1932
Edition: First, Limited Edition

Description: Limited to 500 numbered copies, of which this is no. 457. Quarto (32cm). Japan vellum boards with blind-stamped spine and cover titles; slipcase; ten pages of text, twelve lithographic plates with facing letterpress descriptions; includes an original pencil-signed lithographic frontispiece by Day and a gravure portrait of the artist by Edward Weston. Boards and endpapers clean, internally fine, all plates (including the signed lithograph) bright, clean, and unfaded. Finely-printed monograph on the California lithographer; a typically well-designed Merle Armitage production.  Extra-fine copy, tight binding, no foxing, no stains, no mars, totally amazingly clean copy.

A scarce piece on the art of Celebrity Artist Richard Day (1896-1972), a Canadian-American artist and art director who won a total of seven Academy Awards throughout his career.

After the First World War, Day returned to Canada and attempted to begin a career as a commercial artist. In 1920, his father financed a trip to Hollywood in hopes that Day would find a job in the film industry. He was unsuccessful until a chance encounter with director Erich von Stroheim in a hotel lobby led von Stroheim to offer Day work on the film Foolish Wives (1922). Day served as art director on all of von Stroheim’s films thereafter, apart from von Stroheim’s only sound film, Walking Down Broadway in 1933).

Day followed von Stroheim to MGM, working there through most of the 1920s.^[2] In 1929, he left MGM to join Samuel Goldwyn as his principal art director throughout most of the 1930s. During that time, he won Academy Awards for his production design for Dark Angel (1935) and Dodsworth (1936). Other films during this period include Dead End (1937) and John Ford’s The Hurricane (1937). He then moved to 20th Century Fox, where he was Supervising Art Director. He personally worked on selected films such as How Green Was My Valley (1941), for which he won his third Academy Award.

During World War II, Day independently developed camouflage designs and relief-mapping techniques. He was eventually inducted into the Marine Corps as a Major. Day became a U.S. citizen in 1942 as a prerequisite to joining the Marines. Once in the service, he devised a technique to make relief models of assault landing sites out of mud and other available materials. — $450.00

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The Book Called Holinshed’s Chronicles.

1968 The Book Club of California. LE First Edition.

San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1968 First edition, one of 500 copies designed and printed by Adrian Wilson at his Press in Tuscany Alley.

Folio. 83pp. Text illustrations, one exceptional original leaf tipped-in. Cloth-backed decorated boards, paper spine label. Contains an original leaf from the second, very much enlarged, 1587 edition of the Chronicles

An Account of Its Inception, Purpose, Contributors, Contents, Publication, Revision and Influence on William Shakespeare.

with original Prospectus & all documents, rare thus — $450.00

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Frank O’Hara — In Memory of my Feelings

A FINE FIRST EDITION IN NEAR FINE SLIPCASE.

— $1250.00

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