Detail face image from the Copper engraving from the expanded second edition of Hanmer's illustrated Works of Shakespeare
Illustrated - Art, Photography, Architecture, Rare Books

The Illustrative Processes: Etching

Etching falls under the intaglio and engraving category of printmaking, where the printing press applies great force to push ink into lines. Though an etching is an engraving, not all… Read more

First editions of the First, Second and Third Series of the Poems of Emily Dickinson in the original pictorial cloth.

19th Century, Literature

Saved From the Flames: The First Series of the Poems of Emily Dickinson

In 1886, an elderly and reclusive spinster died in a small New England town, leaving instructions to her younger sister to burn all her surviving correspondences. The town was Amherst, and… Read More

page from Shakespeare's Othello

Literature, Videos

Othello by William Shakespeare

Watch this short film by Las Vegas bookseller Embry Clark on why Othello is her favorite play by William Shakespeare. Read More

Dialogue by Galileo

Science/Natural History, Videos

The Story Behind Dialogue by Galileo

Watch a short film featuring Las Vegas bookseller Christy Shannon and the story behind Galileo’s Dialogue. Read More

front page Wealth of Nations, first edition

Economics

“The Laws of Nature” and Adam Smith’s Economy

Those who knew him described Adam Smith as dull, a day-dreamer, a hermit, and a hypochondriac, but the philosophical economist was certainly no less brilliant and worldly than his better-traveled… Read More

illustration of kangaroo from Cook's voyages

Travel, Videos

The Story Behind Captain James Cook’s Voyages

The voyages of Captain James Cook stand among the greatest feats of exploration undertaken in any age. The only 18th – century explorer to lead more than one Pacific voyage,… Read More

HMS Terror, as drawn by Captain George Back

Polar, Travel

John Franklin: The Man Who Ate His Boots, Part III

In the decade or so following his disastrous-if-heroic Coppermine Expedition to the Arctic, John Franklin kept fairly busy.  Upon his return to England, he married and became first a father… Read More

churchill world war set

History, Literature, Videos

The Story Behind The Second World War by Winston Churchill

Watch a short film featuring Las Vegas bookseller Greg Hicks and the story behind The Second World War by Winston Churchill. Read More

First edition of Number I by Thomas Paine

American Revolution

Forgotten Founders: Thomas Paine, Part 3

Before the battle of Trenton the half-clad, disheartened soldiers of Washington were called together in groups to listen to that thrilling exhortation… The literary musket reaches its mark… The great… Read More

Limited first edition of Rockwell Kent’s Moby Dick

19th Century, Literature, Videos

The Story Behind Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Watch a short film by Las Vegas bookseller Embry Clark with the story behind Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Read More

1791 first edition, first issue of James Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson. London: Printed by H. Baldwin for C. Dilly.

Literature

“I’ll be your Boswell”: Words Coined From Literary Classics

When you call someone a “scrooge,” most people understand you to mean someone who is miserly, uncharitable, selfish, and just generally unfriendly.  Most people also know that “scrooge” stems from… Read More