The Blog

Of all the treasures that we receive every week, some attract one’s attention at first glance: an elegant vellum binding, a massive title that instantly evokes the famous errings of an ingenious Hidalgo... You do see who I'm talking about, don’t you ?
Our renowned visitor is none other than the 1671 reprint of the first illustrated Spanish edition of Don Quixote ! It contains the same 16 plates usually credited to the Anvers engraver Frederick Bouttats, copied from the plates drawn by Jacques Savary for the very first illustrated edition of Cervantes’s masterpiece, the 1657 Dutch edition. It also displays two completely new frontispieces, engraved by Launers.

Needless to say we’re pampering him !

Among all the unique bookstores in the Catalan capital, Comellas has become a must. Located in the very heart of the city, its shelves display all kinds of rare and ancient books, on a variety of topics and themes. And we are not claiming it, but Jorge Carrión, a Catalan writer and professor at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona whose words were reported by The Guardian journalist Christian House in an article translated and published in the Buenos Aires daily Clarín .

Like every week the bookstore has published a new selection of books on the Best Deals section. Discounts can go up to 40 % but hurry up, they will only last one week…

- ARNAUD D'ANDILLY (Robert). De Vita Christi Carmen e gallico latine redditum.
- CATALOGO de la Real Armeria, mandado formar por S.M. siendo director general de Reales Caballerizas, Armeria y Yeguada, el Excmo. Señor Don José Maria Marchesi.
- CHEVALIER (Michel). CHEVALIER (Michel).
- ESPIARD (Abbé F.-I. d'). L'Esprit des Nations. Nouvelle édition revue et corrigée.
- FILLEUL DE PETIGNY (Cl.). Voyages en Suisse. Description des Curiosités Naturelles.
- GUICHARD (Jean-François). Fables et autres Poésies suivies de quelques Morceaux de Prose.
- MARTIN (Barthelemy). Traité du Lait et de l'usage qu'on en doit faire et de la manière d'en user.
- MEMOIRE sur les Travaux d'Amélioration exécutés aux Embouchures du Danube par la Commission Européenne instituée en vertu de l'article 16 du Traité de Paris du 30 mars 1856.
- PERINT (C.). Compiègne, la Forêt, et Pierrefonds.
- THIEURY (Jules). Bibliographie Italico-Normande contenant: 1). un essai historique sur les relations entre l'Italie et la Normandie; 2). une Bibliothèque des ouvrages relatifs aux relations des deux pays; 3). une Bibliothèque des Ouvrages relatifs à l'Italie, composés par des auteurs normands.

From the first draft we received from Zanzu Design Studio some months ago to the present it has been a long while. We have exchanged many hours on the phone, dozens of emails and a long parade of prototype buttons that came and went back and forth. It has been a long way that led us to a website that, preserving the simplicity of the former, intended to integrate many new tools while adding a touch of freshness and closeness.

A month after the launching of the website and with a number of users already seduced by its evolutions we do want to use this opportunity to express our gratitude to our designer Irantzu Cordón, for her professionalism, engagement and good humour.

Thank you Irantzu and see you soon.

Like every Monday the bookstore has published a new selection of books on the Best Deals section. Discounts can go up to 40 % but hurry up, they will only last one week…

- AYMERICH (Nicolas). Le Manuel des Inquisiteurs à l'usage des Inquisitions d'Espagne et de Portugal ou Abrégé de l'Ouvrage intitulé: Directorium Inquisitorum, composé vers 1358 par Nicolas Eymeric,
[ BELLOY (Pierre de) ]. Moyens d'Abus, entreprises et nullitez du referit et bulle du Pape Sixte Ve.
- CERVANTES (Miguel de). L'Ingénieux Chevalier Don Quixote de la Manche. Nouvelle traduction orne d'une Carte des voyages de Don Quixote, avec l'indication des divers lieux où sont arrivées ses aventures.
- DEHAITRE (Fernand). Machines et Appareils pour Etablissements Hospitaliers, Religieux, Militaires, Maritimes. Etablissements d'Instruction, Lycées, Collèges...
- GOIFFON (Joseph). Harmonie des Deux Sphères Céleste et Terrestre, ou la correspondance des Etoiles aux parties de la Terre.
- HARTMAN (Franz Xaver Ritter von). Prima Lineae Institutionum Botanicarum.
- MAGU. Poésies Nouvelles. Précédées de la Biographie de l'auteur, et d'un Fac-simile.
- [ QUESTION ROMAINE ].
- THUMMEL (de). Wilhelmine, Poème héroï-comique traduit de l’allemand par M. Huber.
- YANGUAS Y MIRANDA (José). Diccionarios de los Fueros del Reino de Navarra, y de las leyes vigentes promulgadas hasta las córtes de los años 1817 y 18 inclusive.

Like every Monday the bookstore has published a new selection of books on the Best Deals section. Discounts can go up to 40 % but hurry up, they will only last one week...

- BITAUBE (P. J.). Joseph. En Neuf Chants.
- [ BRIDEL (Philippe Syrach) ]. Les Muses Helvétiennes, ou Recueil de Pièces Fugitives de l'Helvétie, en vers et en prose.
- COWLEY (Abraham). Select Works in two volumes: with a preface and notes by the editor. The third edition.
- HUME (D.). Exposé succint de la Contestation qui s'est élevée entre M. Hume et M. Rousseau, avec les pièces justificatives. A Londres, 1766.
- [ MEHEGAN (Guillaume Alexandre, chevalier de) ]. Considérations sur les Révolutions des Arts, dédiées à Monseigneur le Duc d'Orléans, premier Prince du Sang.
- MENGS (Raphael). Œuvres de M. Mengs, Premier peintre du Roi d'Espagne et du Roi de Pologne, Professeur à l'Académie Capitoline de Rome...
- MIRABEAU (Louis de Riqueti, Vicomte de). La Morale des Sens ou l'Homme du Siècle. Extrait des Mémoires de Mr. le Chevalier de Bar... Rédigés par Mr. M... D.M.
- MOTTIN DE LA BALME. Essais sur l'Equitation ou Principes raisonnés sur l'Art de monter et de dresser les Chevaux.
- PANIGAROLA (Francesco). Dichiaratione de i Salmi di David… Alla Serenissima Infante, la Signora Duchessa di Savoia.
- PASCAL DE LA COURT (Louys).). Tableau des Gaules, en forme de colloque entre des Hommes des principalles nations de l'Europe, divisé en deux parties.

This week the bookstore has launched a new thematic catalogue. In this occasion by the title “Eureka” we have grouped a selection of 117 antiquarian books and documents related to scientific discoveries and technical inventions, published between 1516 and 1911. Among them we can highlight some books of importance for their bibliographic rarity and the scientific relevance of their content:

- the first monograph on an invertebrate (Malpighi, 1669)
- the only edition of the first description of the “graphometer”, carried out by its inventor (Danfrie, 1597)
- the brochure where for the first time a theoretical solution for colour photography is exposed (Cros, 1869)
- an important illustrated book on microscopy applied to natural science (Buonanni, 1703)

We invite you to learn more about our selection in the catalogue Eurêka

During the festivity of Saint Jordi the tv show Barcelona Connection from BTV broadcast an interview in Comellas Bookstore.

Journalist Bea Rodriguez talks to Julien Comellas about different aspects of the antiquarian book business while she offers a guided tour around the lovely apartment where the store is located.

Comellas Bookstore is ready for a makeover. This could make us think that the team is planning to refurbish the lovely apartment the bookstore occupies in the historic centre of Barcelona. But that is not the case. Modernism and art deco lovers should not be afraid: mouldings, floors, arches and ceilings are still intact around our ancient books.

The changes are at work on our website. Keeping the structure and essence of the former site we have pursued a more updated and accessible look. In that sense we have increased the number of images, both of the place and of the team, so that the audience could feel like a real visitor inside the bookstore.

However the changes go further than the mere visual. We must evolve with times and Comellas Bookstore has decided to implement two innovative tools which will make even closer our relationship with our virtual clients. The first one is the possibility to chat online with a member of the team, who will advise and even redirect the client to a given web page to illustrate a particular recommendation. The second is the possibility to examine a book online through a webcam before purchasing it.

Another of the innovations worth highlighting is the start-up of this blog as a means to communicate news and curiosities of bibliophily in general and the life of our bookstore in particular. Each article intends to be only an excuse to foster dialogue through your contributions and comments. We start this project with thrill but we depend upon you if we want it to become really interesting and dynamic. Our address in facebook and twitter complete our presence on social networks. See you there!

To conclude, the last innovation we will point out is the free registration system. The user who registers has unlimited access to all the contents of the website (full descriptions, prices, new acquisitions catalogues in preview, best deals, etc) as well as all the new tools (online chat, webcam service, access to comments on the blog, etc)

So now you know it, if you register under the name of your favourite author this could be the chance for your first comment…

On April the 23rd, with spring still fresh on the trees and on the spirit of the people of Barcelona, the city blossomed with roses one more time. But not all the petals were red on the streets. Many of them were sheets of books that once every year leave the confinement of bookstores and see the sun.

Most of them are new releases printed for this special day when people traditionally give books for a present. However in a corner of Rambla de Catalunya a stand full of antiquarian books drew the attention of passers-by, tired of so many new books. For them Comellas Bookstore was an interesting contrast, a relief for eyes and hands that reviewed old covers and faded pages with a sensitivity perhaps strange to them in any other day. More than anything we would like to remark and even thank the interest and curiosity we found on the faces of the youngest ones, those who stopped by to look, touch and even smell some books that we, from the other side of the stand, simply love. Thank you.

We would like to share with you some images of our Day of Sant Jordi