Category Archives: Books

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Wood Pulp Paper

Matthias Koops (active 1789-1805) applied for and received three patents. The first dated April 28, 1800 outlined a process for extracting printing and writing ink from paper “making thereof paper fit for writing, printing, and other purposes.” Recycled paper.

The second two were for manufacturing paper from straw, hay, thistles, waste and refuse of hemp and flax, and different kinds of wood and bark. Wood pulp paper. “The manufactory was first established at the Neckinger Mill, at Bermondsey; and afterwards removed to the Thames Bank, Chelsea, where it terminated unsuccessfully.” –The Franklin Journal and American Mechanics’ Magazine 1, no. 4 (April 1826): 251. Previous debts forced the closure and sale of his Straw Paper Manufactury in 1804.

Thanks to Elmer Adler, the Graphic Arts Collection holds the first book printed on paper made not from linen or cotton but from straw, with an appendix printed from paper made from wood pulp. Koops dedicated his book to George III and wrote:

“I therefore most submissively, entreat permission to lay at Your Majesty’s feet the first useful Paper which has ever been made from Straw, without any rags or addition, and on which these lines are printed; but at the same time most humbly beg leave to observe to Your Majesty, that this Paper is not yet in such a state of perfection as it will hereafter be, when the necessary, implements are completed, and the Manufactory regularly established and farther advanced; but as there now can be no doubt that good and useful Paper may be manufactured solely from Straw.”

View of Millbank in Wallis’s Plan of The Cities of London And Westminster 1804

 

Matthias Koops, Historical account of the substances which have been used to describe events, and to convey ideas, from the earliest date to the invention of paper (London: Printed by T. Burton …, 1800). Laid in: sample blank folded sheet of straw paper, 35 x 43 cm. folded to 18 x 12 cm. Watermark: “Neckinger Mill.” Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Oversize TS1090 .K66q

 

 

 

Full text:

April 28, 1800. No. 2392. Matthias Koops. Extracting printing & writing ink from printed & written paper, & converting the paper from which the ink is extracted into pulp, and making thereof paper fit for writing, printing, & other purposes. The printed and written papers, after certain selection, are to be divested of their size by means of hot water, and afterwards boiled in solutions of American potashes and lime water mixed, and of a different strength, accordingly as the paper has been printed with German or English ink, or ordinary writing ink.

After washing with water, the material resulting from such treatment is to be thoroughly cleansed from the alkali by washing in the engine; and to brighten the colour, so much of the pulp is to be treated with a solution prepared by distilling a certain amount of marine salt with a certain amount of black wad and vitriolic acid into soft water. This pulp is then to be ground in order to be made into paper.

Written paper assorted is cleansed from size by boiling water, the water pressed out; it is put into a wooden case lined with a thick mixture of white lead & water, the neck of a retort containing the before-mentioned ingredients is attached and heat applied, when the article is impregnated so that it becomes whitened; it is conveyed into the engine to grind into a substance for making paper.– [See Repertory of Arts, vol. 14, p. 225; Davies on Patents, p. 244; Bolls Chapel Reports (sixth), p. 197.]

August 2, 1800. No..2433. Matthias Koops. Manufacturing paper from straw, hay, thistles, waste & refuse of hemp & flax, & different kinds of wood & bark. [No Specification enrolled.]

February 17, 1801. No. 2481. Matthias Koops. Manufacturing paper from straw, hay, thistles, waste & refuse of hemp & flax, & different kinds of wood & bark, fit for printing & other useful purposes, by steeping for a given time in lime water, to which, in some cases, christal of soda or potash may be added, afterwards boiling in clean water, in which, in some cases, a certain quantity of chrystal of soda or potash may be dissolved, then washing and again boiling, after which pressing, when proceed to manufacture the material into paper by the usual & well-known processes of making paper.

In the case of straw or hay, they are cut into portions of about two inches in length by a chaff-cutting machine; with thistles, they are cut when the bloom begins to fall therefrom, dried and cut into lengths of two inches; and with wood, it is first reduced into shavings, then cut with the chaff-cutting engine into lengths of about two inches; but wood which contains much turpentine or resinous matter cannot usefully & beneficially be made into paper.

Some of the substances, previous to steeping in the lime water, may be boiled for a given time in ordinary water. And again, in some cases it has been found to be advantageous to suffer the pressed material to ferment & heat for several days before reducing it to pulp, in order to its being made or manufactured into paper.– [See Repertory of Arts, vol. 1 (second series), p. 241; Webster’s Reports, vol. 1, p. 418; Webster’s Patent Law, pp. 16, 71, 83, 100 (also p. 127, cases 35 and 4i); Carpmael’s Reports on Patent Cases, vol. 1, pp. 175 and 186; Davies on Patents, pp. 11 and 244; Parliamentary Reports, 1829, p. 192; Vosey’s Chancery Reports, vol. 6, p. 599; Bosanquet and Puller’s Reports, vol. 3, p. 505; Rolls Chapel. Reports (sixth), p. 200.]

Isabella Piccini and Angela Baroni, 18th-century engravers

Detail “Suor Isabella Piccini Sculpi”

Detail “Angela Baroni Scrisse Ve.a”

From: Bernardo Lodoli, Serenissimo Venetiarum Dominio ill[ustrissi]mo, et ecc[ellentissi]mo Arsenatus regimini Bernardi Lodoli … fidele votvm … ([Venetiis], [1703]). 12 leaves. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process. Thanks to Gail Smith, Senior Bibliographic Specialist. Rare Books Cataloging Team, who worked out the description of this item.

 

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired a rare all-engraved publication by two eighteenth-century female printmakers, Sister Isabella Piccini (1644-1734) and Angela Baroni (active 1700s), with text by Bernardo Lodoli.

The bound compilation announces and endorses a forthcoming work, including its printed index and engraved title page.: Il cvore veneto legale formato dalla compilatione delle leggi … et altre cose notabili stabilite nel corso di cinque secoli per la buona a[m]ministratione … dell Arsenale di Venetia … Opera dal dottor Bernardo Lodoli … [Venezia] 1703. There are three full-page engravings and engraved title page by Piccini and “Cvore” title page; along with four leaves of text (one illustrated) engraved by Baroni.

For more information see: Morazzoni: Libro illustrato veneziano del settecento, Graphic Arts reference (GARF) Oversize Z1023 .M85 1943q, p.239.

Detail

Thanks to Eric White’s Bridwell Library exhibition “Fifty Women,” we now know “that Elisabetta Piccini (1644–1734) was the daughter of the Venetian engraver Giacomo Piccini (d. 1669), who trained her in the art of drawing and engraving in the styles of the great masters, particularly Titian and Peter Paul Rubens.

In 1666 she entered the Convent of Santa Croce in Venice and took the name Suor (Sister) Isabella. She continued to work as an engraver, accepting numerous commissions from Venetian publishers to illustrate liturgical books, biographies of saints, and prayer manuals. However, as a Franciscan nun dedicated to a life of poverty, she divided her earnings between her convent and her family living in Venice. Her long and productive career ended with her death at the age of ninety.”

For more, see the entry in the Enciclopedia delle donne: http://www.enciclopediadelledonne.it/biografie/elisabetta-piccini/

In this work, Piccini was partnered with Angela Baroni (active 1700s), who specialized in calligraphic engraving.

Detail

 

Detail

Piccini’s work can also be seen in: Missale Romanum : ex decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini restitutum, S. Pii V. Pontificis Maximi jussu editum, Clementis VIII. & Urbani VIII. Auctoritate recognitum ; in quo missæe novissimæ Sanctorum accuratè sunt dispositæ (Venetiis: ex Typographia Balleoniana, 1727). Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Oversize 2012-0009F

Carlo Labia, Dell’imprese pastorali (Venetia: Appresso Nicolò Pezzana, 1685). Rare Books (Ex) Oversize N7710 .L12q

Carlo Labia, Simboli predicabili estratti da sacri evangeli che corrono nella quadragesima, delineaticon morali, & eruditi discorsi da Carlo Labia….(Ferrara: Appresso B. Barbieri, 1692).Rare Books (Ex) Oversize N7710 .L122q

 

 

Es ist bitter, die Heimat zu verlassen

Romano Hänni, Es ist bitter, die Heimat zu verlassen [It is Bitter to Leave Your Home] (Basel: Hänni, 2017). Number 21 of 87 copies of the standard edition. Text in German, English, and Japanese. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process


Swiss artist Romano Hänni has spoken passionately about the devastating effects of contamination from nuclear facilities. His new book Es is bitter die Heimat zu verlassen concerns the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that occurred on March 11, 2011, as well as the ongoing impact of radioactive contamination.

Hänni writes that claims made by nuclear scientists “that no health consequences are to be expected from contamination are unscientific, immoral, and criminal.” He further states that “there is no peaceful use for nuclear energy. It is repressive, criminal and deadly. Only nuclear plants that have not been built can offer absolutely safety.”

His newest book is printed in five colors on paper towels, a technique the artist perfected with an earlier work: Typo bilder buch: von Hand gesetzt und auf der Handabziehpress gedruckt. Graphic Arts RCPXG-7350409. Small selections of text are juxtaposed with letters, images, and symbols to communicate the event and its aftermath. 

The artist writes “Work on this book began in December 2013, was interrupted by some commissioned work, and lasted until June 2017. The page format was determined by the paper: paper towels, maxi roll . . . The printing forms were composed from individual parts and printed on the hand proofing press. The Japanese text was [cast] and composed in the type foundry Sasaki Katsuji in Tokyo and delivered to Basel. For most of the pages several printing forms and printing runs are needed. The body of the book was bound by hand with thread. Overall production time was approximately 1400 hours.”

http://www.romano-haenni.ch/assets/21_it_is_bitter_to_leave_your_home_standard-edition-2017.pdf

Minnesota Center for the Book: “Educated at the Basel School of Design, [Romano] Hänni returns to the core values of traditional printing technique and modernist European design. The strict limitations of hand typesetting are his cornerstone, everything composed from the incremental units of type and spacing available in the type shop. Hänni’s work encompasses a wide range of fields in visual communication, from books, magazines, catalogs and newspapers to drawings, photography and journalism about design and everyday culture.”

 

The book is accompanied by a glossy 12-page color pamphlet with 108 photographs documenting the production process for this publication.

 

Printed in Blue

Alessandro Tassoni (1565-1635), La Secchia Rapita [The Captured Bucket]. Poema Eroicomico di Alessandro Tassoni Patrizio Modenese. Colle dichiarazioni di Gaspare Salviani, Romano. S’Aggiungono la Prefazione, e le Annotazioni di Giannandrea Barotti, Ferrarese; e la Vita del Poeta Composta da Lodovico Antonio Muratori Bibliotecario del Serenissimo Signor Duca di Modena (Modena: Bartolomeo Soliani Stamp. Ducale, 1744). Provenance: book plate of Marco di Carrobio. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process.

The War of the Oaken Bucket began late in 1325, when Malatestino dell Occhio, Lord of Rimini, led the Bolognese from Florence and Romagna to the fort at Monteveglio (12 miles west of Bologna) to regain a bucket of treasure stolen by the Modenese.
— https://www.warhistoryonline.com/military-vehicle-news/aerosan-war-sleds-red_army.html

Nearly three hundred years later in 1622, Tassoni published a mock-epic poem called La Secchia Rapita, which has also been translated as The Rape of the Bucket or The Stolen Bucket. Many translations and new edition followed, including two in 1744. The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired the larger of the two, called “stimmatissima edizione” and “belle edition,” and one of the few copies with the plates printed with blue ink.


“The poem is pervaded by an exuberant, satirical, and often brilliant humor. There are passages in which the humor is sustained and cumulative, and others in which an apparent seriousness finds its climate in a sudden hilarious absurdity” (Ernest Hatch Wilkins (1880-1966), A History of Italian Literature (1974) (F) PQ4038.W5 1974 pp. 298-9).

Based on the life of Alessandro Tassoni by Muratori, this edition includes a commentary by Giovanni Andrea Barotti, and notes by the author written under the pseudonym Gaspare Salviani.

Many of the best artists of the period worked on this publication, including engravings by Giuseppe Benedetti (1707-1782); Andrea Bolzoni (1689-1760); Francesco Zucchi (1692-1764);
and Antonio Zuliani from designs by Bartolomeo Bonvicini; Domenico Maria Fratta (1696-1763); Pietro Gradici; and Francesco Villani, among others.

“Intaglio colour printing developed only gradually before 1700. Monochrome colour-printed engravings and etchings appear regularly from the fifteenth century, and some experiments with polychrome intaglio printing date from the time that chiaroscuro woodcut emerged en force in the 1520s…. The reasons for monochrome colour printing may have ranged from practical, such as to distinguish designs for goldsmiths (printed in yellow-brown) from those for silversmiths (printed in blue), to commercial, making the prints more attractive to collectors. — “Colour Printing in intaglio before c.1700,” in Printing Colour 1400-1700: History, Techniques, Functions and Receptions (2015).

 

See also:
Alexander Pope (1688-1744), The Rape of the Lock: an Heroic-Comical Poem in Five Canto’s [sic]. 2nd ed. (London: Printed for Bernard Lintott, 1714). Rare Books (Ex) 3897.374.11

Alessandro Tassoni (1565-1635), La Secchia Rapita; Poema Eroicomico … con le dichiarationi del sig. Gasparo Salviani [pseud.] el primo canto dell’ oceano nell’ vltimo corretti con gli originali (Bologna: Per G. Longhi [1670]). Editor: Paulino Castelucchio. Rare Books (Ex) 3138.01.38

Birds from Byzantium

 

 

Peter Lyssiotis, Birds from Byzantium = Pouliá tou Vyzantíou (Melbourne, Vic.: Masterthief, 2010). Text was written in 2009 at the Monastery of Mavrovouni in the Larnaca district of Cyprus. Greek translation by Andreas Psilides and Lefteris Olympios. Images by Peter Lyssiotis. Binding by Wayne Stock. Copy 17 of 18. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process

The artist writes “Birds from Byzantium has been made in an edition of [18] and has been printed duotone on Mohawk Superfine paper. The text has been set in columns, justified to both left and right with no regard to word breaks as this was one of the design elements of the earliest hand scripted Bibles. Sure it makes the text difficult to read but it also traps the eye and gives a nod to tradition.

The images are collages. As a backdrop they have a Bible commentary in Greek. The collages have been made so the text has a place to rest. On some pages there are drawings in ink by Lefteris Olympios. The binding is by Wayne Stock and has used aspects of Byzantine book design and place them in a contemporary setting: for example, the use of circles, the X, the use of gold, the [choice] of burgundy for the colour of the cloth and the bands on the spine.”

Peter Lyssiotis: http://www.australianphotographers.org/artists/peter-lyssiotis


See also:
Leonie Sandercock, Cosmopolis II: mongrel cities in the 21st century. Images by Peter Lyssiotis (London; New York : Continuum, 2003). Firestone Library (F) HT166 .S219 2003

Silent scream: political and social comment in books by artists: an exhibition, 26th September-26th November 2011, Monash University Rare Books Library within the Sir Louis Matheson Library curated and catalogue commentaries by Monica Oppen and Peter Lyssiotis (Sydney, Australia: Bibliotheca Librorum apud Artificem; Melbourne: Monash University Rare Books Library, 2011). Marquand Library (SA) N7433.3 .S545 2011

Te souviens-tu

Warja Lavater (1913-2007), Te souviens-tu? [Do You Remember?] (Amsterdam: Da Costa, 1984). 16 panel leporello. Oblong folio, 22.5 x 12.5 cm, mounted between one split linocut block. Copy 11 of 20. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process

 

The Swiss artist Warja Lavater was in her 70s when she partnered with the Galerie da Costa in Amsterdam to publish two leporellos, beginning with Te souviens-tu? and a year later Roman (Novel). The first is a rare project in which Lavater departs from her use of “visual codes” to re-interpret well-known narratives and uses instead visual text to interpret a song.

The title references (among other things) to the nineteenth-century popular song “Do you remember?” and the printed words can only be read through the veiled verso of the folded sheets; just as our memories often seem hidden behind a veil. Each copy of the book was mounted between one of the linoleum blocks used to print the text.


The Graphic Arts Collection is fortunate to acquire this rare book, only the second in an American public collection. We have one other book published by Da Costa, titled Identikit 32 by Manuel S. Menán (1946-1994).

 

Verso

 

30 books in 4 inches

Graphic Arts Collection Hamilton 1429s

Sinclair Hamilton writes, “Many of these [woodcuts] will be found in the 1807 edition of The Looking Glass for the Mind, the cuts in which are probably all by [Alexander] Anderson and follow generally his cuts in the 1795 edition of the same book. Some of the cuts in the present volume bear his initials. Indeed it seems likely that Anderson was responsible for the majority of the engravings in these 30 tracts.”


1. Address to a child. New York New York Religious Tract Society, D. Fanshaw, printer, 1824.
2. Advice to Sunday school children. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
3. Bread: the staff of life. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
4. Dennant, John. The Sabbath scholar: showing how he was rescued from ignorance and vice, by means of the Sabbath school / by Rev. J. Dennant. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
5. Eyes and no eyes, or, Eyes that see not: how to read the Bible aright. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
6. Little Sally of the Sunday school. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
7. Little Susan and her lamb. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, 1824.
8. Louisa’s tenderness to the little birds in winter. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
9. Mary Jones, or, The soldier’s daughter. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
10. Memoir of Miriam Warner. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
11. Mischief, its own punishment: exemplified in the history of William and Harry. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
12. Select verses for children. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
13. Sherwood, Mary Martha, 1775-1851. The May-Bee / by Mrs. Sherwood. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
14. Sherwood, Mary Martha, 1775-1851. The wishing cap / by Mrs. Sherwood. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
15. The affectionate daughter. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
16. The destructive consequences of dissipation and luxury. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
17. The goodness of providence: illustrated in several interesting cases. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, 1824.
18. The happy cottagers, or, The breakfast, dinner & supper: to which are added: The shepherd’s boy, reading to the poor widow. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
19. The happy man, or, The life of William Kelly; a true story. New York: New-York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
20. The happy Negro: to which is added: The grateful Negro. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
21. The history of Sally Butler. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
22. The image boys: translated from the French. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
23. The Irish girl: being a very interesting account of Anne Walsh, a poor Irish girl: and her conversation with a lady who visited her. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, 1824.
24. The Lord’s prayer. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
25. The orphan. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
26. The remarkable history of Elizabeth Loveless, or, Fidelity and filial affection: examplified and rewarded; very interesting to all young persons. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, 1824.
27. The shipwreck: showing what sometimes happens on our sea coasts; also giving a particular account of A poor sailor boy. New York: American Religious Tract Society, [1825?]
28. The Vine. New York: New York Religious Tract Society; 1824.
29. The wonderful cure of Naaman: a general in the Syrian army. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]
30. The wreath. New York: New York Religious Tract Society, [1824]

 

 

Cuerpos Blandos

In October 1969, the Chilean sculptor Juan Pablo Langlois converted Santiago’s National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA) into “en objeto de la primera intervención artística de carácter público” [the object of the first artistic intervention of a public nature]. The work consisted of a large nylon sleeve filled with diaries, which began on the second floor, circled through the balcony, descended the staircase, and exited through a window, where it was tied to one of the palm trees in the front yard.

Forty years later, this seminal Chilean work of conceptual art was recreated on the second floor of the MNBA and a facsimile edition of the exhibition catalogue was published with drawings and photographs documenting the project. Thanks to the support of the Program in Latin American Studies, we are fortunate to acquire the rare, limited edition re-publication.

According to the curator Ramón Castillo, the re-assembly of “Cuerpos Blandos” has a double meaning. “On the one hand, it is an exercise that activates in memory a key moment for contemporary Chilean art and, at the same time, points to an artist who turns his work into a collective action, since Langlois will receive the contribution of the public and the collaboration of art students for its execution, as well as allowing the public to appreciate the execution and installation process.”

“The Chilean sculptor, installer, and visual artist was born in Santiago on February 26, 1936. Between 1952 and 1962 he studied architecture at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and at the Catholic University of Valparaíso. He receives the influence of Joseph Albers, professor of the Bauhaus in a course of six months that the professor dictates in Chile. His first visual works are closely related to his training as an architect and consist of two-dimensional research on optical art.

At the end of the sixties, he abandoned this tendency to develop a conceptual work made of paper, cardboard and wood, where he emphasized the critical reflection of Chilean society. Finally, Langlois abandons in a radical way the use of traditional elements of art to openly inaugurate the practice of installation in Chile. Since 1969, his work has been exhibited on several occasions in the National Museum of Fine Arts, as well as in other galleries and museums in Chile and abroad. He has received distinctions such as the Third Prize at the VIII International Art Biennial of Valparaíso in 1987 and the Gunther Prize of Santiago in 1995, among others.”–http://www.mnba.cl/617/w3-article-8863.html

For more about Langlois: http://www.artistasvisualeschilenos.cl/658/w3-article-40063.html

Juan Pablo Langlois (born 1936), Cuerpos blandos [facsimile]. 21st edition ([Santiago, Chile]: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, [2017]). Catálogo de exposición de arte. Purchased by the Program in Latin American Studies. Copy 18 of 21. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process.

 

See also: Juan Pablo Langlois Vicuña, De Langlois a Vicuña (Santiago de Chile : AFA Editions, 2009). Summary note: Book devoted to sculptor and installation and visual artist Juan Pablo Langlois Vicuña (b. Chile 1936), considered by many as the “Father of Contemporary Art in Chile”. Conceived as a “document of artist”, the exhaustive work presents his extraordinary and diverse art production (installations, paper sculptures, collages, etc.) from 1969-2008, a chronology of his 39 exhibitions, his artist’s books and his thoughts about art. Includes and interview and a theoretical text. Marquand Library (SA) N7433.4.L363 A4 2009

Cuerpos Blandos – Juan Pablo Langlois (2007) from pedro l. talarico on Vimeo.

Juan Pablo Langlois:
A propósito de Cuerpos Blandos (1/3)

Mitchell and Abbott

Joseph Mitchell (1908-1996), The Bottom of the Harbor, with photogravures by Berenice Abbott (New York: Limited Editions Club, 1991). “The text was set in Monotype Bell by Michael and Winifred Bixler … Printed at Wild Carrot Letterpress … The photogravure plates were made by Jon Goodman, and were printed by Sara Krohn and Wingate Studio”–Colophon. Copy 89 of 250, signed by the author. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) in process.

 

The Limited Editions Club was founded by George Macy (1900-1956) in 1929. After his death, his wife, Helen and then, their son Jonathan Macy, ran the organization until 1970. The club went through several new managers and in 1978, Sidney Shiff (1924-2010) took over, reducing the print runs and emphasizing original art by major artists.

Princeton University Library holds over 200 of the illustrated books and we continue to add to the collection. The most recent addition is the last book Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) participated in before her death at the age of 93.

Returning to New York City in 1929, she began documenting both the modern buildings of Manhattan and the remains of the city’s historic past. Thanks to support from the Federal Art Project, Abbott published Changing New York in 1940. Shiff arranged for negatives taken for this earlier project to be transferred to copper plate photogravure by Jon Goodman and printed by Sara Krohn at Wingate Studio in Massachusetts. The result is the perfect accompaniment to Mitchell’s text.

 

 

“To furnish, to lovers of beautiful books, unexcelled editions of their favorite works . . . to place beautifully printed books in the hands of booklovers at commendably low prices . . . to foster in America, a high regard for perfection in bookmaking . . . by publishing for its members twelve books each year, illustrated by the greatest of artists and planned by the greatest of designers . . . this is the purpose of The Limited editions Club.” –The Limited Editions Club ([New York]: The Club, 1929). Graphic Arts Collection 2010-0386n c.2

Thoreau in gravure


In searching for hand-inked, copperplate photogravures recently, these beautiful plates turned up in the two-volume Walden by Henry David Thoreau, with a willow leaf binding design by Sarah Whitman. The negatives were taken by Alfred Winslow Hosmer (also called Fred, 1851-1903).

As the Concord Free Public Library (where his library and archive are housed) notes, Hosmer did not record dates on many of his photographs but since he created gelatin dry-plate glass negatives, we date them from the 1880s. See more: https://concordlibrary.org/special-collections/fin_aids/Hosmer

One gravure is from Benjamin D. Moxham’s 1856 daguerreotype portrait of Thoreau as well as one from Edward S. Dunshee’s 1861 ambrotype.

 

 

Annotated captions for the illustrations note that Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) owned the land on which the Walden house stood. In a letter to him, January 24, 1843, Thoreau wrote: “I have been your pensioner for nearly two years, and still left free as under the sky. It has been as free a gift as the sun or the summer, though I have sometimes molested you with my mean acceptance of it, –I who have failed to render even those slight services of the hand which would have been for a gift at least: and , by the fault of my nature, have failed of many better and higher services. But I will not trouble you with this, but for once thank you as well as Heaven.”

Above is the house with a profile figure of Emerson. Below is Samuel Staples, Thoreau’s jailer when he was arrested for refusing to pay taxes.

 

 

Above is “Brister’s Spring”. Below “Pines set out by Thoreau on his Beanfield”.

 

 

 

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), Walden. With an introduction by Bradford Torrey. Illustrated with photogravures (Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and company, 1897). Firestone Library (F) PS3048 .A1 1897. Princeton also owns Sylvia Beach’s copy of this book.