Troubles of a Bibliophile.

Item Details

Pasadena, Grant Dahlstrom, 1970, Wrappers

2nd edition, Near fine.

4 ¾ x 6 ¼ in. [4], 39 pp.

Printed beige wrappers. Minor tear to back wrapper at head of spine. Very slight finger-soiling to pp. 39. Los Angels bookseller Jake Zeitlin’s copy, with his signature on interior of front wrapper and verso of final leaf. Near fine condition.

Second edition. First printed in 1935 (bound and distributed in 1937) from a translation by Ruth Frey Axe. The second edition adds footnotes and bibliographical and biographical material by the translator.

Martin Breslauer (1871-1940) was a prominent German bookseller. H.L. Mencken wrote “It is not accurate to speak of Martin Breslauer as a bookseller; he is really a book scientist. That saying has always remained in my memory…I am acquainted with many booksellers in all parts of the world, but I know none whose learning is greater, whose delight in his work is more apparent, or whose professional integrity is more conspicuous. It is a pleasure to consult him and it is a double pleasure to meet him as a friend.” Breslauer, a German Jew, relocated to London in the thirties to evade Nazi persecution, where he continued to sell books until his death in 1940. His son, Bernard Breslauer (1918-2004), became a prominent antiquarian bookseller, as well, starting out in his mother's house in London after World War II, then setting up a shop in London, and finally moving to New York in 1977. He was well known for his collection of illuminated manuscripts, part of which is at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It is likely that the younger Breslauer had a hand in this new edition being published; Jake Zeitlin may also have been involved.