[Rarebooks] FS: Private Press Reference Books

[Karen Howell]

Offered today are 18 reference books on private presses. 

1    [Bird & Bull Press]  TAYLOR, W. Thomas and MORRIS, Henry.  Twenty-One Years of Bird & Bull: A Bibliography, 1958-1979.  North Hills, PA: W. Thomas Taylor, Bird and Bull Press, 1980.  8vo.  10 1/4 x 6 3/4 inches.  108, [2] pp.  Half-title, title page printed in blue and black with gold vignettes, includes "Books Printed by and for the Bird & Bull Press;" Books Printed by the Bird & Bull Press for Others;" "Selected Ephemera;" and "Articles by or about Morris;" lists 56 printed items from the press, index; text clean, un-marked.  Quarter yellow morocco, patterned paper over boards, spine titled and ruled in gilt; binding square and tight.  Prospectus included.  Very Good.
    $ 150
LIMITED EDITION of 350 copies, this is number 250, composed in Van Dijck types by Mackenzie-Harris and printed on handmade Roma V. E. Paper at the Bird & Bull Press, binding by E. G. Parrot.  The paper over the boards was designed by Fritz Eberhardt, index compiled by Howell J. Heaney. 

2    [Dolmen Press]  MILLER, Liam (d. 1987).  Dolmen XXV: An Illustrated Bibliography of the Dolmen Press, 1951-1976.  Dublin: Dolmen Editions, 1976.  Tall 8vo.  11 x 7 1/2 inches.  (96) pp. Black-and-white frontispiece portrait of Liam Miller from an etching by Jack Coughlin in 1976, title page printed in black and red inks, illustrations throughout taken from the designs which appeared in the books issued by Dolmen Press, indexes; text clean un-marked.  Navy cloth, gilt-titled spine, top edge blue dust-jacket in archival mylar; binding square and tight, some soiling to rear panel of the dust-jacket.  Fine.
    $ 450
LIMITED EDITION of 750 copies, 50 were signed and specially bound, this is one of 650 copies for the trade.  Lists 240 books, 9 ballad sheets, and 2 periodicals printed by the Dolmen Press since 1951.  The Dolmen Press was founded by Liam and Josephine Miller in 1951 to provide a publishing outlet for Irish poetry but also featured the work of Irish artists.  The Press grew to publish a broad range of Irish prose literature and critical works about Irish literature and theater.

3    [The Fine Arts Press]  CURTISS, Richard D.  Thomas E. Williams & The Fine Arts Press.  Los Angeles, CA: Dawson's Book Shop, 1973.  LIMITED EDITION of 400 copies printed by Richard Hoffman.  8vo.  9 1/2 x 6 3/8 inches.  xvi, 119, [1] pp.  Black-and-white frontispiece portrait of Thomas Williams, two-color title-page decoration, title page ruled in red, chapter heads and initials repeat the decoration on the title, 17 illustrations of title-pages, bibliography, index; the bibliography has some check-marks, otherwise text un-marked.  Quarter gray cloth, patterned paper over boards, spine titled in gilt; binding square and tight.  Fine.      $ 45

4    [Golden Cockerel Press].  Pertelote: A Sequel to Chanticleer.  Being a Bibliography of The Golden Cockerel Press October 1935-1943 April.  Foreword & Notes by the Partners.  Illustrations from the Books.  (London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1943).  8vo.  10 x 6 1/4 inches.  (52) pp.  Lists items number 113-155, illustrated throughout with black-and-white woodcut engravings taken from the books issued by the press; text clean, un-marked.  Blue cloth titled on front cover and spine in red, with added acetate jacket; binding square and tight, edges a bit worn.  Very Good.
        $ 35
FIRST EDITION.  Lists items numbered 113-155 produced by the Golden Cockerel Press from 1935 to 1943.  Includes notes and comments by the partners of the Press, along with discussions about the artists who illustrated the books and the production of the various titles.  The artists are: Peter Barker-Mill, Helen Binyon, Dorothea Braby, John Buckland-Wright, Robert Gibbings, Eric Gill, Mary Groom, Lynton Lamb, Averil Mackenzie-Grieve, Gwenda Morgan, John O'Connor, Lettice Sandford, Reynolds Stone, Geoffrey Wales, and Clifford Webb. 

5    [Golden Cockerel Press]  CHAMBERS, David and SANDFORD, Christopher, compilers.  Cock-A-Hoop: A Sequel to Chanticleer, Pertelote, and Cockalorum, Being a Bibliography of the Golden Cockrell Press, September 1949 - December 1961, With List of Prospectuses 1920-62 and Illustrations From the Books.  (London: Private Libraries Association, 1962).  8vo.  10 x 6 1/4 inches.  126 pp.  Woodcut illustrations throughout, lists item numbers 182-214, plus hundreds of prospectuses listed, various indexes such as authors, illustrators, editors, translators, etc.; text clean, un-marked.  Light blue stamped blue cloth, dust-jacket; binding square and tight, jacket rubbed and soiled.  Very Good.      $ 20

6    [Golden Cockerel Press].  Bibliography of the Golden Cockerel Press, 1921-1949, Three Volumes in One.  San Francisco: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1975.  8vo.  236 x 157 mm.  (48); (52); 112 pp.  Illustrated throughout with black-and-white woodcut engravings taken from the books issued by the press; text clean, un-marked.  Gilt-stamped olive green cloth in matching slip case, with added acetate jacket; binding square and tight, edges with a bit of foxing.  Near Fine.
        $ 75
Reprint.  Lists 181 volumes produced by the Golden Cockerel Press from 1921 to 1949.  The original books were as follows: 1) "Chanticleer: A Bibliography of the Golden Cockerel Press, April 1921 - 1936 April"; 2) "Pertelote: A Sequel to Chanticleer, Being a Bibliography of The Golden Cockerel Press, October 1936 - 1943 April"; and 3) "Cockalorum: A Sequel to Chanitcleer and Pertelote, Being a Bibliography of The Golden Cockerel Press, June 1943 - December 1948."  In addition, there are notes and comments by the partners of the Press, along with essays about the artists who illustrated the books.  Essential for Golden Cockerel Press collectors.

7    [Gregynog Press]  JONES, Thomas (1870-1955).  The Gregynog Press: A Paper Read to the Double Crown Club on 7 April 1954.  Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press, 1954.  8vo.  10 x 6 1/4 inches.  [vi], (40) pp.  Half-title, 5 engraved illustrations,  with title in red and vignette in red, dust-jacket in archival mylar; binding square and tight, some toning to end-papers as is usual with this title, light shelf wear to extremities.  With an additional front cover label bound in at the rear of the text.  Very Good.
    $ 45
LIMITED EDITION of 750 copies.  The Gregynog Press of Montgomeryshire, Wales, achieved a high standard of craftsmanship which made it comparable with leading private presses in England and Germany.  Jones was chairman of the Gregynog Press and here gives an account of its activities, examples of illustrations from the original blocks, and a bibliographical description of the books printed and published at Gregynog Press.

8    [Juniper Von Phitzer Press]  HANSON, Robert F. Orr.  Juniper Von Phitzer Press: A Bibliography.  Albuquerque, NM: Opuscula Press, 1999.  2 3/4 x 2 7/8 inches.  149, [3] pp.  Lists 61 miniature book titles from the Juniper Von Phitzer Press, 1985 - 1998, 2 non-miniature books, and notes the California Artist Series, color illustrations; text clean, un-marked.  Gilt-stamped brown leather, decorative end-papers; binding square and tight.  SIGNED by the publisher, Robert F. Orr Hanson, on the colophon.  Fine.
        $ 75
LIMITED EDITION of numbered 75 copies.  Book titles printed in Bodoni-Italic, 10 point; body text in New Century Schoolbook Roman 7 point, bound by Donald E. Brady.  An important resource for the collector, lists 61 miniature book titles from the Juniper Von Phitzer Press, 1985 - 1998, 2 non-miniature books, and notes the California Artist Series.  Reference: Bradbury, Twentieth Century United States Miniature Books, p. 170, Opuscula Press, No. 24.

9    MORRIS, Ann.  The Private Press in Leicestershire.  (Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK): The Plough Press, (1976).  4to.  10 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches.  [iv], 55 pp.  Highlights 23 Private Presses with a historical account, lists of their publications, and images from their works (some printed in color), bibliography, all printed on laid paper; text clean, un-marked.  Green buckram, gilt spine; binding square and tight.  Fine.
    $ 85
LIMITED EDITION of 500 copies, this is number 86 of 100 numbered copies published in a special binding. 

10    [MORRIS]  ROBINSON, Duncan.  William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, and the Kelmscott Chaucer.  London: Gordon Fraser, (1982).  4to.  12 1/2 x 10 inches.  116 pp.  Illustrated throughout in black-and-white, index; text clean, un-marked.  Quarter green cloth, green patterned paper after a Morris design, spine titled in green, dust-jacket in archival mylar; binding square and tight.  Very Good.      $ 35

First Publication of The Press of Patrick Reagh, Sebastopol

11    [Plantin Press]  HARMSEN, Tyrus G. and TABOR, Stephen  The Plantin Press of Saul & Lillian Marks: A Bibliography [1930-1985].  Sebastopol: The Press of Patrick Reagh, 2005.  8vo.  247 x 165 mm.  xviii, 151, [3] pp.  Lists 416 items produced by the Plantin Press with full descriptions, 16 plates, list of works about the Plantin Press, numerous other illustrations of the production of the Press, index; text clean, un-marked.  Brick-Red cloth, black leather spine label titled in gilt, publishers slip case in matching cloth with black leather label on front titled and illustrated in gilt; binding square and tight;  SIGNED by Tyrus Harmsen opposite the title-page.  Fine.
        $ 300
LIMITED EDITION of 351 total copies, seventy-five are numbered and twenty-six are lettered which include original Plantin Press ephemera, this is copy number 21, with 5 pieces of ephemera inserted in a pocket bound in the rear of the book.  Prospectus laid in.  A long-awaited bibliography of the premier Southern California private presses.

12    [Quercus Press]  RITCHIE, Ward (1905-1996)  Theodore Lilienthal, Robinson Jeffers and the Quercus Press.  With a Checklist of the Lilienthal Jeffers Collection by Tyrus G. Harmsen.  Los Angeles: Mary Norton Clapp Library : Occidental College, 1974.  Pamphlet.  9 x 7 inches.  20 pp.  Title-page printed in black and blue-green inks with a Hawk's Tower vignette; text clean, un-marked.  Printed blue wrappers, stapled; binding square and tight.  Tyrus Harmsen's Compliments card laid in  Fine.      $ 15

Important Checklist of The Rampant Lions Press, 1934 to 1988

13    [Rampant Lions Press]  CARTER, Will and CARTER, Sebastian.  The Rampant Lions Press Miscellany.  Cambridge, UK: The Rampant Lions Press, 1988.  8vo.  267 x 184 mm.  Unpaginated.  8 12-page gatherings highlight various aspects of the work of the Rampant Lions Press including numerous cuts of letters or images in various colors (some folding), also includes a checklist of the production of the Press from 1934 to 1988; text clean, un-marked.  Quarter gray cloth, patterned paper over boards, printed paper spine label, acetate dust jacket; binding square and tight, jacket a bit worn.  Very Good.
        $ 125
LIMITED EDITION of 185 copies, this is number 94.  Illustrated with numerous wood engravings, etchings, and linocuts.  A collection of excerpts, illustrations, colorful book labels, and other miscellany produced by the Press.  Includes a fold-out leaf with a blackletter prayer printed by Will Carter on a hand press in 1938  Importantly, includes a checklist of Rampant Lions publications.

16    [St. Onge] MASSMANN, Robert E.  Bibliomidgets of Achille J. St. Onge.  A Memorial and a Bibliography.  New Britain, CT: REM Miniatures, 1979.  2 3/8 x 2 inches.  xiv, 84, [2] pp.  2 sepia photographic portraits tipped-in, one as the frontispiece, lists 46 miniature books with issue points; text clean, un-marked, printed on laid paper; pages clean, un-marked, pages lightly toned.  Gilt-stamped red cloth; binding square and tight.  SIGNED  by Robert Massmann on page xiv.  Very Good.
        $ 120
LIMITED EDITION of 1,000 copies, design, typography and binding by Robert Massmann, Bondoni Book type, printed on Crane 100% Rag Antique Laid Distaff Linen (watermarked).  Lists 46 miniature books, 15 "Larger Books, and 2 periodical titles.  Reference: Bradbury, Twentieth-Century US Miniature Books, REM Miniatures, No. 54, page 241.

17    [Southworth-Anthoensen Press] ANTHOENSEN, Fred (1882-1969).  Types and Bookmaking, Containing Notes on the Books Printed at the Southworth-Anthoensen Press, and a Bibliographical Catalogue by Ruth A. Chaplin.  With Specimens of its Work, types, Borders &c, &c., &c.  Portland, ME: The Southworth-Anthoensen Press, 1943.  8vo.  259 x 182 mm.  x, 170, [4] pp.  Title-page vignette, Foreword by Lawrence P Wroth, illustrations, specimen sheets bound in, bibliographical catalog by Ruth Chaplin, lists of press marks, special types, borders, and keepsakes, index; text clean un-marked, save for a few pencil notes on the blank pages at the rear in the hand of Carl J. Weber.  Blue cloth, black leather spine label titled in gilt, no jacket as issued; binding square and tight.  Comes with the original slip case covered in green paper, printed paper spine label.  Book plate of David Carter Weber on front paste-down.  INSCRIBED AND DATED on the front free end-paper by Fred Anthoensen to Carl J. Weber.  Fine.
        $ 250
LIMITED EDITION of 500 copies.  Lists 265 books printed since 1923.  "Fred Anthoensen was born in Denmark in 1882 and was brought to the United States two years later.  In 1898 he was apprenticed at the Southworth Press in Portland.  First hired as compositor, then as foreman, some twenty years later he became the owner of the company and changed the name to his own.  Self-educated through reading, and inspired by The Printing Art magazine, Anthoensen built a deserved reputation for the meticulous production of difficult texts for universities, museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions.  Anthoensen's books were forthright in design, proofreading was impeccable, workmanship was excellent."  Blumenthal, The Printed Book in America, p. 124.

In addition, this copy has laid in a number of Anthoensen Press ephemera items collected over the years by Carl. J. Weber.  These include: 1) Prospectus for Types and Bookmaking, with order form, 1 sheet folded with text on 4 pages; 2) A review of Types and Bookmaking by Lawrence C. Wroth, off print from "Notes for Typophiles, July 25, 1943, 3 pages in printed wrappers; 3) a page torn out of Philip C. Duschnes Catalogue 58, May 1943 with description of this particular copy, the item highlighted by Carl J. Weber in blue pencil; 4) "Another Milestone Reached," dated December 31, 1956 announcing the change of the name of the press to the Anthoensen Press, 1 sheet, folded with an illustration of a stagecoach; 5) "Weary Men's Song", long sheet folded thrice, a Vacation Announcement for July 1948; 6) Vacation Announcement, August 1951 printed as a specimen sheet, folded.


Signed by Roderick Stinehour

18    [Stinehour Press]  FARRELL, David, compiler.  The Stinehour Press: A Bibliographical Checklist of the First Thirty Years.  With an Introduction by Roderick Stinehour.  Lunenburg, VT: Meriden-Stinehour Press, (1988).  Large 8vo.  10 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches.  xxi, 300 , [2] pp.  Color and black-and-white facsimiles throughout, lists over 1,000 items printed by the Stinehour Press, list of books about the Press, numerous indexes; text clean, un-marked.  Silver-stamped navy blue cloth, dust-jacket; binding square and tight.  SIGNED by Roderick Stinehour on the half-title.  Fine.
        $ 85
LIMITED EDITION of 1,200 copies, this is number 122.  "When the intellectual history of this period is examined it will be found that The Stinehour Press played a leading role in printing a record of our culture.  It has been a major force as a scholarly printer, and it has played an equally major role in its contribution to typographic excellence."  Stuart C. Sherman.


TERMS OF SALE: Subject to Prior Sale. Reciprocal trade discount available; please inquire. Returnable. Postage paid Media Mail within the US; International orders billed at cost. CA sales tax where applicable, unless valid resale certificate provided or on file. Checks, Money Order or PayPal preferred. Call or e-mail to reserve.



John Howell, ABAA, ILAB, IOBA
310 367-9720