20th Century: 1901 - 1950
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Tutte Le opera di Dante Alighieri Fiorentino.  Initial letters designed by Graily Hewitt, illustrations designed by Charles M. Gere and cut on wood by W.H. Hooper. 
Chelsea, Ashendene Press, 1909.  30 x 42 cm. 

Considered one of the most beautiful examples of one of the finest presses of the early 20th century, the “Ashendene Dante” was printed by C. H. St. John Hornby.  This is one of 111 copies and is bound in wooden boards with leather back and clasps. 

Rare Book Room, Denison Library
Russkii Morskoi I Vozdushnyi Flut, Sooruzhennyi na Dubrovol’nyia Puzhertvcvaniia.
St. Petersburg, 1913.  25 x 32 cm. 

Primarily a book of photographs of early aviators and airplanes, this volume depicts the development of aeronautics in Russia. 

Carruthers Aviation Collection, Sprague Library
Les Fleurs du Mal par Charles Baudelaire.  Illustrations dessinees et gravees sur bois par Emile Barbard.  Ambroise Vollard, editeur. 
Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 1916. 2v.  26 x 34 cm. 

At the end of the 19th Century, Vollard, an art dealer in Paris, conceived the idea that France’s greatest painters should illustrate books with original work.  This two volume set is a fine example of these Livres de Peintres. 

Rare Book Room, Denison Library

Vol. 1, p. 172


 Vol. 4, p. 228


Vol. 4, p. 229

 Historia on de Nordiska Folken by Olaus Magnus, Abp. of Uppsala, 1490-1557. 
Uppsala, Almqvist & Wiksells boktr., 1909-1951. 5 vol.  22 x 29 cm. 

Volumes one through four were produced during 1909-1925.  This is the first Swedish edition with wood cuts of medieval and early modern life in Sweden. 

Nordic Collections, Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library
Meiyu Atari Kyogenshu, by Kokusai Johosha. 
Tokyo, Kokusai Johosha, Taisho 14 (1925).  24 x 33 cm. 

With block prints and photographs, this work depicts famous Kabuki actors in the early part of the 20th century. 

Asian Studies Collection, Honnold/Mudd Library
Les Premieres Traversees Aeriennes de l’Atlantique by Rene Weiss. 
Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 1927.  25 x 34 cm. 

Marking the first flight across the Atlantic by Charles Lindbergh in May 1927, this history relates the celebration in Paris of the flight. 

Carruthers Aviation Collection, Sprague Library
La Premiere Traversee Aerienne Paris – New York par Costes et Bellonte by Rene Weiss. 
Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 1931.  26 x 34 cm. 

With charts, maps, and photographs, this work details the first flight westbound across the Atlantic in September 1930. 

Carruthers Aviation Collection, Sprague Library
Die Tragische Geschichte von Hamlet Prinzen von Danemark, by William Shakespeare.  Woodcut illustrations by Edward Gordon Craig. 
Weimar, Cranachpresse, 1929.  25 x 37 cm. 

With its fluid woodcut illustrations by the noted theatrical designer Craig, and splendid typography of Count Henry Kessler, this, along with its English counterpart, is considered one of the most beautiful and significant private press books of the 20th century. 

Philbrick Collection, Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library
This fore-edge painting of Jesus and the woman at the well illustrates a Chinese New Testament, c.1930.  2 x 13 cm. (dimensions of spine). 

Rare Book Room, Denison Library
Francesco Zambeccari, Aeronauta (1752-1812) by Timina Guasti Caproni. 
Milan, Museo Caproni, 1931.  26 x 36 cm. 

This illustration depicts the last, doomed ascent on September 21, 1812 of the widely popular pioneer balloonist Francesco Zambeccari. 

Carruthers Aviation Collection, Sprague Library
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