VINTAGE AND ANTIQUE BOOKS

There's a richness to antique books that transcends their status as one of the world’s most beloved collectibles. Books document the evolution of our need to make sense of the world around us. This urge can be seen in the first Gutenberg bible of 1455; the ‘First Folio’ of plays by William Shakespeare, published in 1623; John James Audubon’s monumental “Birds of America,” which was printed between 1827 and 1838; and even the pocket-size Beat-poetry paperbacks, published by City Lights bookstore in the 1950s and ’60s. Each, in its own way, reveals the priorities and passions of the culture. Whatever the genre—be it biographies or cookbooks, children’s books or classic works of science fiction—and regardless of the title, most collectors focus on first editions. First editions are coveted because their print runs tend to be small. They're also considered to be the closest a reader can get to the author’s original intent for his or her work. Thus, first editions are particularly desirable if a book has been changed for the second printing. Especially collectible are first editions of books that went on to win literary awards. The landmark children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are” earned author and illustrator Maurice Sendak a Caldecott Medal in 1964, so its first-edition cover from 1963 does not feature the famous Caldecott seal. Another, more recent, famous first edition is the 1997 version of J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” which was published by Bloomsbury in the U.K. in a print run of 1,000. The book went on to sell millions of copies for Scholastic in 1998, when it was re-titled for the U.S. market as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” No wonder copies of the Bloomsbury first edition routinely sell in the five figures. Some people collect books for their aesthetic value. For these collectors, antique and vintage leather-bound books and sets are particular favorites. Some are covered in calf skin, which book...

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VINTAGE BOOKS TO ADD TO YOUR COLLECTION

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 20th Printing – Leather Bound

$60.95  Free shipping within the U.S.

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Kobbe’s Complete Opera Book 1967 Gilt Edges Edited and Revised by Earl of Harewood

$39.95  Free shipping within the U.S.

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LLADRO FIGURINES

Founded in 1953 by brothers Juan, José, and Vicente Lladró on the outskirts of Valencia, Spain, the Lladró porcelain company initially produced functional ceramics like vases and serving platters. In 1955, the Lladró brothers first ventured into figurines, with pieces reviving the style of famous 18th-century manufacturers like Meissen and Capodimonte. During the late 1950s, Lladró established a novel firing technique that reduced the three-layer process to a single layer infused with pastel tones. Around the same time, the brothers also adopted an official logo featuring the name “Porcelanas Lladró” over an image of the famous Nike of Samothrace sculpture. As the company’s reputation and export market grew in the 1960s, “Spain” was also incorporated into the logo. By this time, the Lladró style of oversized figures with stylized lines and pastel hues was well established. Lladró opened its “City of Porcelain” in 1969, which included an office and workshop space along with leisure and sport facilities for workers. In the 1970s, the company launched a new “Gres” line of porcelain, which was used for even larger sculptures with a matte finish and earth-tone palette. Lladró also transitioned to a simpler blue mark on the base of its pieces during this decade, featuring a bell-shaped flower and an ancient chemical symbol. One of Lladró’s remarkable technical achievements was the “Flowers of the Season” series in 1982, which includes bouquets of tiny hand-sculpted flowers on each piece. The Lladró Collectors Society was formed in 1985, coinciding with the release of an annual, limited-edition series. The first release of the series featured a melancholic clown with puppies peeking from his pockets entitled “Little Pals.” Throughout the 1980s, the company continued to expand overseas, opening a museum and gallery space in New York City in 1986. During the 1990s, Lladró pieces were added to the collections of world-renowned museums, like the Hermitage...

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A SAMPLE OF LLADRO ANGELS AVAILABLE AT:
JEDWINS COLLECTIBLES