An English renaissance manuscript catechism

Part of a late 16^th or early 17^th century manuscript catechism, Anglican, written in a combination of secretary and ‘italian’ (chancery cursive) hands. Four leaves of parchment, 215 x 155mm, disbound, written both sides. Some fore-edge cracks in the top leaf with a small piece missing from top right-hand corner, with slight loss of text. Principally concerned with the form and conduct of prayer. Part of one of the myriad catechisms devised in this period and not a transcription from the Book of Common Prayer. £50

Ornata

GRICE (John) Typographical Ornata, Et Cetera [a book of typographical ornament]. [Stonehouse:] Evergreen Press, 2016. One of 99 numbered copies only. La.8vo (25 x 17.5cm). Pp. [128]. Printed in a variety of colours. Text hand-set in Romanée printed on white Zerkall mouldmade paper. Including 80 full page colour illustrations. Qtr. japanese vellum, silk sides. Silk slipcase. Out of print. New. ‘A book about, and featuring, printers’ ornament, ornamental types and a wide variety of other decorative elements used in letterpress printing, accompanied by an historically slanted commentary from the author/printer’. SOLD OUT

An album of early jobbing printing by the Perpetua Press

Old ruled notebook, quarter cloth and boards, 20 x 16cm, containing three mounted photographs of the press-room, c.1935, annotated by hand by Vivian Ridler, and c.20 leaves of mounted samples of jobbing work, mostly from the early 1930s. Followed by a further section of jobbing printing, mostly book labels, produced in the 1950s, with the part-title 'The Perpetua Press revived, Jan. 1954'. In use in Bristol and Oxford, c.1930-36, 1954-55. Covers worn. Contents sound. The three small photographs are views of the press-room in the basement of David Bland's father's vicarage in Cotham, Bristol, one showing Bland himself machine-minding. The work includes small commercial catalogues, handbills, visiting and trade cards, letterheads, etc. In the early years at least, Ridler and Bland seem to have operated as 'The Cotham Printing Guild'.
   For further background see David Bland, 'The Perpetua Press', The Private Library, 2nd series, 3:2, Summer 1970, pp.78-90, and [James Moran], 'The lighthearted Amateur behind the distinguished Professional' [a note on David Bland], Book Design and Production, 1:3, Autumn 1958, pp.15-17. Sold.

Alphabet & Image

Alphabet & Image, nos. 1-8 [all published]. Ed. By Robert Harling. London: Art & Technics, Spring 1946 – December 1948. 8 vols. 4to. Semi-stiff  boards. Nos. 1-4 with plastic comb backs (undamaged), nos. 5-8 sewn. No. 6 worn at foot of spine, otherwise an excellent set housed in two specially made clamshell boxes, qtr. morocco, cloth sides, black leather gilt lettering pieces. Sold.

Berthold Wolpe's Sachsenwald

Seven sheets of early proofs of Berthold Wolpe’s typeface Sachsenwald, showing 24, 48, 22, 36, 14 and 30D sizes. [The Monotype Corporation:] 24/7/36 – 25/11/38. Seven sheets (25 x 20cm) printed one side only. The specimen of 30pt is shown printed on both laid and coated papers. The first five sheets, to 1/2/37, bear the original name of the type, Bismarck Schrift. The type was first shown in the blackletter number of the Monotype Recorder, 36:1, Spring 1937. The completed series 457 consisted of nine sizes. According to Michael Bixler, whose upstate New York typefoundry offers Sachsenwald, only two sets of matrices were ever made. Sold.

Humboldt-Fraktur

STEMPEL (D.) Schriftgiesserei. Humboldt-Fraktur. Frankfurt a M. [c.1939]. 4to card portfolio, 26 x 20cm, containing upwards of 25 pieces being examples of this typeface in use. Designed by Hiero Rhode in 1938. Lacks one small mounted piece. Sold.

Cowell's Steam Printing Works Annual Wayzgoose, 1879

COWELL (S.H.) [later W.S.Cowell Ltd, printers] Cowell’s Steam Printing Works Annual Wayzgoose at the Ordnance Hotel, Felixstowe, July 19th, 1879. [Ipswich, 1879]. 116 x 77mm. Card programme. Pp. [4]. The outside elaborately chromolithographed, the inside printed letterpress in red and green. Some slight evidence of former mounting, but very good. £35

A manuscript arithmetic exercise book, 1819

A manuscript arithmetic exercise book, 1819. 4to. Pp. [168]. A blank book of handmade paper watermarked ‘C.Wilmott 1818’ written throughout in black and red in a very neat script. Orig. parchment boards, edges chafed, worn at foot of backstrip but good and sound. The first page says ‘C.Beale commenced this book June 11th 1819’. It is divided into sixteen sections: Double Fellowship, Profit & Loss, Barter, Vulgar Fractions, etc., some with elaborately embellished calligraphic headings. Including many ‘real life’ problems rich in references to contemporary trade and commerce, estate management, etc. £60

A collection of children's books c.1935 - 50 (3)

Two more Albums du Père Castor of the 1930s, these featuring the work of the Swiss-French artist Béatrice Appia (1899-1998): Conte de la Marguerite, 1935 (top), and Histoire de Perlette, goutte d’eau, 1936 (bottom).

There are five English books in the collection. Here are four of them. First, a spread from This or that? by Wyndham Gooden, illustrated by Barbara Jones, published for the Scottish Committee of the Council of Industrial Design, HMSO, 1947. Below that, left to right, Dorothy Chapman’s Baby Puffin, Counting book; Ring-a-Ring of Roses by Nancy Innes, Faber, 1942; and one of Enid Marx’s war-time miniature books for Faber, Quiz.

 Finally, a small group of Russian children’s books:

A collection of children's books, c.1935 - 50 (2)

Two books in the collection are illustrated by the Russian émigré Feodor Rojankovsky (1891-1970). The top one is his Calendrier des enfants, 1936, one of the Albums du Père Castor series published by Flammarion:

These photos show books by another Russian-born illustrator, Hélène Guertik. The top one, Des poissons, 1935, is one of  three animal colouring books she made for the Père Castor series in the mid-1930s:

A collection of children's books, c.1935 - 1950

I am in the process of cataloguing an amazingly well-preserved collection of mainly soft-back children’s books from the 1930s and 40s. There’s a strong ex-patriate Russian (or Soviet empire) theme. Over half the books in the collection are illustrated by Elisabeth Ivanovsky (1910-2006). Born in Moldova, she spent most of her working life in Brussels where she came in 1932 to complete her training, soon establishing herself in the broader artistic and literary community. Here’s a selection of her work, including some of the ‘Pomme d’Api’ miniature books she created with her husband René Meurant in the 1940s, and Scarabées, done with her long-time collaborator Marcelle Vérité:

Edward Bawden's Take the Broom

BAWDEN (Edward) Take the Broom. Printed by Vincent Brooks, Day & Son Ltd. for George Rainbird, Ruari McLean and the author, 1952. Ltd. to 350 copies. 10 x 13cm. 32pp. Eight full-page colour litho illusts. A very good copy.

   Take the Broom is one of a set of six tales drawn by Bawden for his children, Richard and Joanna, during 1944. At the request of George Rainbird and Ruari McLean it was redrawn on lithographic plates for this private publication in 1952. £225

Printers' fists

GREER (Stan) [Printer] A Printer's Handbook. With pointers for beginners [specimens of printers' fists]. [Barbourne, Worcester:] The Graven Image Press, 2000. Ltd. to 25 numbered copies. Tall narrow 8vo. French-fold. Pp.[24]. Printed letterpress on heavy Zerkall mouldmade paper. Specimens printed from the orig. wood of 24 printer's fists, ranging in size from about 9 to 25 lines, from an unidentified collection of woodletter. C19 and early C20 designs. Printed wrappers. New. £45

Some line blocks from designs by Berthold Wolpe (3)

My original post of 13th July showed some of the decorations made by Berthold Wolpe for F.Le Mesurier's Sauces, French and English, 1947. Here are a few of those blocks in the context in which they first appeared:

Deberny et Cie, Le livret typographique, Paris, c.1885

DEBERNY & Cie (Maison Laurent et Deberny) [Typefounders] Le livret typographique. Specimen de caracteres. Paris: Fonderie de caracteres d'imprimerie, Rue Visconti, N.17. [c.1885]. 8vo. 7 leaves of prelims & 142 leaves of specimens (3 large folding) printed one side only. Orig. printed boards, slightly rubbed. A very well preserved copy. The price list of the 'caracteres ordinaires' is dated 1880. Not after 1889 when the firm moved to 58, rue d'Hauteville. Sold.

Hailing's Circular

Hailing's Circular vols 1-2, nos.1-24 [all published]. Cheltenham: Thomas Hailing, Oxford Printing Works, 1877-89. 2 vols. 4to. Pp. [vii], 116; [viii], 141. Portraits of Benjamin Franklin and A.V.Haight. Many strikingly displayed pages using a variety of fancy types and making frequent use of colour, including some gold bronze printing. Publisher's decorative cloth bindings, rubbed at head and tail of spine. All edges gilt. A very good set.

   Three early numbers are reprints, no.1 is the 3rd ed.,1880, no.2, 2nd ed.,1882 and no.7, 2nd ed., 1881.

   One of the earliest printers' house organs and a pioneer in Britain of the new American style of 'artistic' printing. Thomas Hailing (1839-99) was at various times agent for the Central and Boston typefoundries, Earhart's Superior Printer and the American Model Printer, as well as being a notable early supporter of the Printers' International Specimen Exchange - all interests reflected in the pages of his Circular. Hailing's Circular was much more than an advertising medium, however, providing much-valued professional leadership in a period which saw significant social and educational reform in the printing industry. 'He preached the interdependence of master and workman in seeking technical perfection, the balance of every contributory element in the achievement of high standards of everyday printing, and the paramount importance of apprentice training. He was one of those men, not uncommon in the Victorian age, who could introduce spiritual values and public enlightenment into the advertising of his own wares without any apparent cant or self-consciousness. As John Johnson said of him in our own century: "For a generation which itself saw no incongruity in this outlook, Hailing was both an economic and a psychological landmark in printing progress".' (R.S.Hutchings). Rare. BUCOP records only two complete sets. Sold.