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Leo Cadogan
@leocadogan.com
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Antiquarian bookseller, London. (ABA/ILAB).

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Leo Cadogan @leocadogan.com · Mar 17
Typographical chaos. Sondershausen, 1700.
A page of text in different types. Duodecimo.
Reposted by Leo Cadogan
jaymoschella.bsky.social
Johannes Balbus' Catholicon -- an immense Latin grammar and dictionary. Printed in Mainz in 1460 by Gutenberg. BPL's copy is one of relatively few printed on vellum (animal skin). Taking some pics with my iphone(!), you can see collagen fibers, hand-applied pigments, and ink squash from the press.
A lowercase "a" with red pigment applied over a mark of punctuation. Collagen fibers in the parchment, which look like little clear strands, visible everywhere. This is close to 200X magnification A lowercase "m" in which the printing ink can be clearly seen to be "squashed" toward the edges of the letter, where it's built up into a black outline A digraph "ca" (two letters fused into one) over a swirl of hand-applied blue, purple, and red pigments Crackled red pigment and a "rubricate" line ending over a printed mark of punctuation
January 16, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by Leo Cadogan
philobiblos.bsky.social
so ist es! #Antiquariat
leocadogan.com Leo Cadogan @leocadogan.com · 1d
There is no finer place to be
In Januar-ee
Than Stuttgar-Tee 🎶🎶
Paper invitation (free entry) to Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair, January 23-25.
January 15, 2026 at 1:45 PM
leocadogan.com
There is no finer place to be
In Januar-ee
Than Stuttgar-Tee 🎶🎶
Paper invitation (free entry) to Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair, January 23-25.
January 15, 2026 at 1:44 PM
leocadogan.com
Not a middle finger (finger seems really to be abstracted to line-pointer). Manicule, Mexico, 1708.
Small printed manicule with a thin black line sticking out from the fist.
January 15, 2026 at 12:33 PM
leocadogan.com
Such a welcome and unusual treat. Such versatility from the stars. ‘The playboy of the western world’ at the National Theatre.
The National Theatre. View down from the bridge, in the dark. Towers lit up in red and purple.
January 14, 2026 at 5:26 PM
leocadogan.com
Uppers and downers. A coffee-drinker and a beer-drinker. Amsterdam, c1840.
Catchpenny print featuring two humorous woodcuts, of a large woman drinking coffee and a large man drinking beer. Coloured with red and blue blotches.
January 13, 2026 at 11:17 PM
leocadogan.com
13th-cent women law lecturers! A section on learned women in a satirical work of Madrid 1666 just introduced me to Accursia, daughter of Accursius, editor of the gloss on Justinian. She is apocryphal, but more certain I understand is Bettisia Gozzadini of Bologna (1209-1261) (thank you Wikipedia).
January 13, 2026 at 5:40 PM
leocadogan.com
Some nice use of typographical decoration. Madrid, 1766.
Elegantly constructed rectangular head-piece decoration, type to five different designs.
January 13, 2026 at 2:18 PM
leocadogan.com
This woman is getting some reading done. Amsterdam, c1800.
Woodcut of a woman wearing a bonnet, reading a book, in an oval. Motto below, T’GEZIGT. Touches of pink and yellow colouring.
January 12, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Reposted by Leo Cadogan
wokestudies.bsky.social
"Bibliophiles will be able to read in libraries at Wightwick Manor, Powis Castle, mid Wales, and Kingston Lacy, Dorset."
#books #reading #heritage #library
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
‘We want people to sit, pause, relax’: National Trust to open its libraries for public use
Charity plans to make stately homes more welcoming by inviting visitors to use furniture and reading rooms
www.theguardian.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:16 AM
leocadogan.com
What birthday cards do you have for middle-aged male antiquarian booksellers? Well, we have this …
Front of birthday card with image showing two piles of old books, glass of brown liquid with ice, reading glasses, all with some detail in gilt; below this, text in black “HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD YOU ARE NOT OLD YOU ARE FIRST EDITION!”
January 11, 2026 at 9:47 PM
Reposted by Leo Cadogan
dorothyjberry.bsky.social
Are YOU the most depressing book plate ever? YES, You ARE!
Bookplate with a series of six images illustrating a stick figure from the purchase of their first book to their books being unceremoniously tossed after death. Text reads "EX LIBRIS KNUD SCHØNBERG"
July 25, 2025 at 6:04 PM
leocadogan.com
2nd leaf recto of a very interesting book on nuns from Mexico, 1708, that I last had in 2022.
Woodcut of Crucifixion at top with text neatly set out below (text from psalm 44 repeated twice, with commentary).
January 11, 2026 at 4:31 PM
leocadogan.com
I like bugs to be on the paper rather than eating into it. A very engaging German brocade paper.
Green paper (faded) with metallic butterflies with German names (also faded).
January 11, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Leo Cadogan
hanslindner-1409.bsky.social
Stuttgart 26 - more than a Book Fair: almost 80 stands with 75 exhibitors - #newlocation #newvibe #youthcollectorszone #meet #youngpeople #friends
January 10, 2026 at 10:47 PM
leocadogan.com
Early modern book titles can be long, but if transcribed unabbreviated in a bibliography also function as their own description of contents.
Under printed heading “EN OCTAVO” a 9-line transcription of a title beginning “Nuevo Estilo”. The book whose title is given was published Madrid 1733.
January 10, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Leo Cadogan
luilog.bsky.social
Gee, who could've foreseen that. Except everyone.
mattsteinglass.bsky.social Matt Steinglass @mattsteinglass.bsky.social · 6d
“When Brexit passed, the economic impact was initially minimal. But a decade later, the UK is estimated to have lost 6 to 8 per cent of GDP relative to its pre-Brexit trajectory. Structural damage reveals itself slowly, and always too late to be reversed.” giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Don’t be fooled — everything has changed for the global economy
Damage caused by US tariffs has so far been muted but that won’t last
giftarticle.ft.com
January 10, 2026 at 10:40 AM
leocadogan.com
Laurens Janszoon Coster (1370-1440), the purported Dutch inventor of printing, is coming to the Stuttgart book fair! This block-coloured woodcut image is a copy of the statue in the garden of the Stedelijk Gymnasium of Haarlem, which is after a design by Romeyn de Hooghe (1645-1708).
Block-coloured woodcut image of a statue on a pedestal, protected by railings. Coster wears laurels, and carries a large piece of type and a book.
January 10, 2026 at 10:25 AM
leocadogan.com
Printer’s armorial! This belonged to Pedro Joseph de Alonso y Padilla (d.1771) on whom more here: historia-hispanica.rah.es/biografias/2643-pedro-joseph-de-alonso-y-padilla
Woodcut armorial, featuring three [?] bread oven paddles [?], crested helmet above, banner with text “Padilla” below.
January 9, 2026 at 6:47 PM
leocadogan.com
Early reader’s notes.
Page of a Spanish-language work with headline “Compendio de contratos publicos’, with ms marginalia and two small pieces of paper laid in, also with notes.
January 9, 2026 at 4:39 PM
leocadogan.com
Parrots of Rome, here by the ancient walls.
5 parrots on a piece of bare ground in front of Roman walls.
January 8, 2026 at 12:13 PM
leocadogan.com
Margins trimmed #temoin
Bottom outer corner of C16 book folds out as a promontory, showing the extent to which blank margins of book have been trimmed.
January 8, 2026 at 10:27 AM
leocadogan.com
Bad and good decision-making on typography in politics www.newstatesman.com/politics/lab...
Why does Labour look so bad?
The government is behind on lots of things. Typography is one of them
www.newstatesman.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:53 PM
leocadogan.com
Italian bibliomerch. Notebook from Treccani, publishers of Enciclopedia Italiana, with their definition of ‘quaderno’, which means both notebook and quire (gathering from which both printed books and manuscripts are made). Basic building block.
Green notebook front cover with definition of quaderno in orange.
January 6, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Reposted by Leo Cadogan
britishlibrary.bsky.social
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Learn more link.bl.uk/ILLP2026
A woman with long brown hair pulls a red book from a bookshelf.
January 6, 2026 at 10:21 AM