Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: Back top corner of box bumped Otherwise this boxed art portfolio is in fine condition. Part of a limited edition of 300. This copy is #71. Signed on edition page by artist. 83 pages.
Seller: Yes Books, portland, ME, U.S.A.
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Description: [Leonard Baskin at the] Gehenna Press, 1964. Fine-Press Account of the Trial of an Important French Revolutionary and Socialist Martyr [Trial]. Babeuf, Gracchus [1760-1797], Defendant. Cornell, Thomas [1937-2012], Illustrator. Scott, John Anthony [1916-2010], Editor, Translator, Author. The Defense of Gracchus Babeuf Before the High Court of Vendome. Northampton, [MA]: [Leonard Baskin at the] Gehenna Press, 1964. [ii], 83, [5] pp. Etched frontispiece, 20 etched plates. 21 plates in all. Quarto (12-1/2" x 8-3/4"). Six quires of uncut and unopened quartos in twos, one of each pair inserted into the fold of the other, laid into calf chemise, pages interleaved with 20 signed loose etchings printed by Emiliano Sorini in New York and it was designed and produced by Leonard Baskin on blue Fabriano laid paper. Letterpress in Baskerville type on linen Nideggen laid paper moldmade in Germany. Orange press mark signed by Thomas Cornell. Housed in quarter-calf over cloth solander (tray) case. Fine. $450. * From an edition limited to 300 copies, this number 87. Babeuf, publisher of the Tribun du Peuple, was executed in 1797 for his role in the Conspiracy of Equals to overthrow the Directoire. This conspiracy is significant as the first attempt to install a socialist government. Gahenna's fine-press volume about Babeuf's trial contains English translations of selections from Babeuf's defense, Marechal's Manifesto of Equals and Babeuf's peroration, his last words to the court, which were addressed to his children. An American artist and illustrator, Cornell was drawn to subjects concerning global, social, and environmental justice. The book was printed by Harold McGrath, the suite of etchings by Emiliano Sorini. Baskin, Franklin and Baskin, The Gehenna Press: The Work of Fifty Years, 1942-1992 36. Widener and Wiener, Law's Picture Books: The Yale Law Library Collection 10.8.
Seller: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., ABAA ILAB, Clark, NJ, U.S.A.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Description: Copy "C II" of a limited edition of 300 copies. Large clamshell box, H 40.75cm x L 30.25cm. Black spine well scuffed particularly along joints with large patch of peeling at center from removal of sticker; spine's title/press label intact at head as is heel date label; brown cloth boards. Brown cloth four flap folder which is supposed to contain Cornell plates only contains twenty-one tissue guard sheets instead. Second brown cloth four flap folder contains handsome full dark leather portfolio with six laid-in quires and twenty laid-in Thomas Cornell pencil signed portrait etchings on blue Fabriano paper (plus additional unsigned b/w frontispiece portrait immediately opposite title page); rear colophon provided limitation statement, pencil written copy#, and a Thomas Cornell pencil signature (unfortunately Leonard Baskin's signature is not present). Interior contents are all fine; exterior clamshell box took the wear. Jpeg images provided upon request. Please note that this large book has an approximate shipping weight of 7.25 pounds (3.28 kg) and will require additional postage for any postal class other than domestic Media Mail.
Seller: David Hallinan, Bookseller, Columbus, MS, U.S.A.
Price: US$600.00 + shipping
Description: full leather chemise laid in a cloth-covered clamshell box with a light tan leather spine. (ii), 83, (5) pages in addition to 21 etched portraits printed on special paper and loosely inserted throughout the text. This is copy C.108 of 250 printed in this format (and 300 printed in total). Signed by the artist-etcher Thomas Cornell. First Edition. 4to., full leather chemise laid in a cloth-covered clamshell box with a leather spine. (ii), 83, (5) pages in addition to 21 etched portraits printed on special paper and loosely inserted throughout the text. The paper is Nideggen made in Germany, and the pressman was Harold McGrath. The suite of etchings were printed by Emiliano Sorini in New York and it was designed and produced by Leonard Baskin. Printed in an edition limited to 300 numbered copies. This is called a "printer's copy", signed by Leonard Baskin. which contains twenty-one etched portraits signed by Thomas Cornell on blue Fabriano, enclosed in unbound, uncut signatures. Brook 36; Baskin 36. Selected for translation in this volume is the first part of Babeuf's general defense. Includes a prospectus for the publication. VG+, never used or abused an exquisite copy
Seller: Mullen Books, ABAA, Marietta, PA, U.S.A.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Description: Limited Edition. Hardcover. 20 loose portraits, hand-printed on blue Fabriano, each etching signed by the artist. Baskin 36. Ownership plate at front pastedown, else tight, bright and unmarred. Loose signatures in full brown leather over board portfolio, gilt lettering; quarterbound archival traycase, brown leather spine, gilt lettering. Small 4to. 84pp plus np plates. Illus. (b/w plates). Numbered limited edition, this being 151 of 250. Signed by Leonard Baskin; each plate signed by Cornell.
Seller: Lux Mentis, Booksellers, ABAA/ILAB, Portland, ME, U.S.A.
Price: US$900.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: Edited & translated with an essay on Babeuf by John Anthony Scott, with 21 etched portraits by Thomas Cornell. Loose as issued in unbound and uncut signatures, in full leather portfolio, limited to 300 copies, with and additional suite of etchings signed and numbered, in cloth portfolio, limited to an edition of 50. Sets 1 through 50 have the additional suite of prints all signed, titled and dated in pencil. This is set 34 identified on the colophon page and the additional suite of prints all numbered 34/50. Colophon page woodcut by Leonard Baskin. Quarto loose uncut signatures in a leather cover housed in a beige portfolio. The etchings in the text are printed on blue Fabriano laid paper, and laid into the text. The additional suite of prints is quarto in a separate matching beige portfolio. Housed overall in a beige cloth clam shell box with a leather spine. Overall excellent condition, minor wear on the outer clam shell box. Inventory #4937-1. This book requires special handling in shipping. From the colophon: “Three hundred copies of this book were printed at the Gehenna Press in Northhampton, Mass., the work finished during March 1964. The type throughout is Baskerville, The paper is Nideggen made in Germany. Harold McGrath was the pressman. The suite of etchings were printed by Emiliano Sorini in New York. . .”
Seller: The Old Print Shop, Inc., New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$1624.00 + shipping
Description: 4to., full leather chemise laid in a cloth-covered clamshell box with a leather spine. (ii), 83, (5) pages in addition to 21 etched portraits printed on special paper and loosely inserted throughout the text. The paper is Nideggen made in Germany, and the pressman was Harold McGrath. The suite of etchings were printed by Emiliano Sorini in New York and it was designed and produced by Leonard Baskin. Printed in an edition limited to 300 numbered copies. This is called a "printer's copy", signed by Leonard Baskin. which contains twenty-one etched portraits signed by Thomas Cornell on blue Fabriano, enclosed in unbound, uncut signatures. Brook 36; Baskin 36. The "First Revolutionary Communist", French political agitator and revolutionary, Francois Noel (Gracchus) Babeuf (1760-1797) led the so called "Conspiracy of Equals" against the French Directory. This was the first violent attempt to install socialism in a country. The plot was denounced and a wave of arrests were made on May 10, 1796. A High Court of Justice was held in Vendome in October of 1796 and Babeuf was executed. Selected for translation in this volume is the first part of Babeuf's general defense.
Seller: Second Life Books, Inc., Lanesborough, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$3000.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First edition in English translation (edited and abridged), copy 6 of 300. Quarto, 12 unbound, uncut and unopened signatures loose in chemise with frontispiece etching by Thomas Cornell, unsigned, the pages 31.8 x 21.8 cm, interleaved with 20 loose etchings 31.2 x 21.2 cm by Cornell on blue Fabriano laid paper, each titled in blind and signed "Cornell" in pencil. Letterpress in Baskerville type printed by Harold McGrath on linen Nideggen laid paper moldmade in Germany. Collates as six quires of unsigned quartos in twos, one of each pair inserted into the fold of the other, [1]1-2, [2]1-4, [1]3-4, etc.: [2ll.] (blanks), 1 l. (half-title recto, frontispiece etching of Gracchus Babeuf verso), 1 l. (title recto), pp. 1-[59] (Babeuf's Address to the Jury), [60] (notes), 61- [64] (Sylvain Maréchal's Manifeste des Égaux, 1796), 65-[78] (essay by John Anthony Scott, "François-Noël Babeuf and the Conspiracy des Égaux"), 79-[84] (Biographical Notes), [1 l.] (blank), 1 l. (colophon and press device in red, variant X, recto), [1 l.] (blank); the interleaved 20 loose etchings placed generally before the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th leaves of each quire. Tan calf chemise 32.2 x 22.5 cm, edges blind-ruled, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, Nideggen paper pastedowns, in a folding tray case 38.8 x 28.5 cm. in olive bookcloth lined with Nideggen paper. Separate suite of 21 etchings, each titled, numbered 6/50, dated 1964 and signed Cornell in pencil, on heavy off-white Rives wove paper 37.8 x 27.8 cm, in a matching portfolio case, together with two watercolors of Clootz (Jean-Baptiste du Val-de-Grâce, baron de Cloots), one 33 x 25 cm, corresponding to the profile view of the etching (in reverse), signed in pencil "Thomas Cornell," the other 25 x 21 cm, three-quarter view, initialed "C" in grey ink and numbered "16" in pencil lower right verso, both on cream wove watercolor paper. The tray case and portfolio are contained in a matching quarter-leather clamshell box, 40 x 30 cm, the black calf spine with tan calf title label and footer date strip lettered and ruled in gilt. Leonard Baskin designed the work; Emiliano Sorini printed the etchings in New York; Arno Werner executed the bindings. Clamshell box with corner and edge wear to spine leather, top front corner of spine worn through, chipping of labels and bumping of outside top corner of bottom cover; all else fine. One of 21 copies (numbered 1-21) with a watercolor, of the 50 copies with the separate suite, of the total edition of 300; this copy is not signed or numbered by Cornell on the colophon but is identified as copy 6 by the numbers "6/50" on the suite; it contains an additional, very forceful watercolor of Clootz not used in the etchings and may be a collaborator's copy. Reference: The Gehenna Press, The Work of Fifty Years, 1942-1992, The Bridwell Library & The Gehenna Press (1992), biblio. no. 36, pp. 56-8; ill. (title page), exh. no. 20, p. 158; see also p. 17 (assessment by Colin Franklin). This work is a collaboration of Baskin's design and McGrath's presswork in the heyday of The Gehenna Press. Colin Franklin quotes its prospectus in his assessment in the Bridwell Library catalogue, "After the Apology of Socrates before the Jury of Five Hundred, Babeuf's plea before the tribunal of the Directory during the final hours of the French Revolution is perhaps the most splendid testament ever uttered in behalf of the freedom of man's mind." Baskin relates in his note to the entry in the catalogue: "The book is an exemplar of an ideal that the press strove for in those years. A meaningful text, generally unavailable, set forth in handsome & apposite typography & enhanced with a set of etchings, woodcuts or lithographs, that enlarge or augment or deepen the text. To make this glorious work more widely known the University of Massachusetts Press published a popular edition of it."
Seller: Arca Amoris Alitis, New York, NY, U.S.A.