Fairs | July 2024 | Alex Johnson

Five Rare Books: Bath Book Fair

Steve Liddle

IN WINTER & IN SUMMER YOU CAN BE SURE OF SHELL, Barnett Freedman

The Bath Book Fair, in conjunction with the ABA, will be held at a new venue, Bath Pavilion, North Parade Road, Bathwick, Bath, July 26 - 27. Highlights include: 

* IN WINTER & IN SUMMER YOU CAN BE SURE OF SHELL

Illustrated by Barnett Freedman, Shell Mex, 1932. Dimensions when closed 24cm x 15cm, opening to a depth of  53cm, a very good example of this Shell promotional item, a witty reworking of the Victorian peepshow idea. A Freedman rarity. Price: £1,250
Offered by Steve Liddle

* Murdo en la Orienta Ekspreso

Agatha Christie, Esperanto Publishing Co, c. 1950. 183p softback
Price: £18
Offered by Kingsbridge Books

* The South Polar Times, 1902-1911

Centenary Edition, four volumes. Published by London: Orskey - Bonham - Niner; Scott Polar Research Institute - Bonham. 2002 and 2010. Illustrated throughout in colour and black and white. The first three volumes were originally published 1907-14, this facsimile offered in a numbered edition of 350 (this being number 61). The fourth volume was never previously published, this being copy 61 of an edition of 500. The South Polar Times was originally produced to relieve the boredom of the cold, dark winter nights and raise the spirits of the men on board. In addition to its essays on seals, whales and penguins, therefore, there are also comic poems, puzzles, stories and cartoons. Scott's comments in the preface to the first published edition, written in 1907, seems to indicate that the journal achieved its goal: "I can see again a row of heads bent over a fresh monthly number to scan the latest efforts of out artists, and I can hear the hearty laughter at the sallies of our humorists and the general chaff when some sly allusion found its way home". 
Price: £975
Offered by Pete Fry

Murdo en la Orienta Ekspreso
1/4
Kingsbridge Books

Murdo en la Orienta Ekspreso

The South Polar Times, 1902-1911
2/4
Pete Fry

The South Polar Times, 1902-1911

A Printer's Christmas Books
3/4
Topeka Books

A Printer's Christmas Books

Circus
4/4
Black Cat Bookshop

Circus

* A Printer's Christmas Books

The very last of the Cambridge UP Christmas books, sent out in 1974. The series started in 1930, and they are limited editions, privately printed at the University Printing House, and sent to other printers or members of the trade. They became progressively more expensive to produce, and this last one is a complete list of them all. There are examples of many of the illustrators such as Edward Ardizzone, David Gentleman, and Lynton Lamb.
Author: Brooke Crutchley
Price: £45
Offered by Topeka Books

* Circus

Paul Eipper was fascinated by the circus and travelled through Europe for 20 days with a circus to write this book. First published in his native German the previous year this is the British first edition translated by Frederic H Martens . It includes 47 behind the scenes photographs. Routledge, 1931, hardback in dustwrapper.
Price: £85
Offered by Black Cat Bookshop