[Rarebooks] For Sale: Lewis Allen, Printing with the Handpress - Robert Lewis Stevenson by the Allen Press

[John Howell]

John Howell for Books
John Howell, member ABAA, ILAB, IOBA

 5205 ½ Village Green                           310 367-9720

Los Angeles, CA 90016-5207              jnhowell at me.com 

1          ALLEN, Lewis M.  Printing with the Handpress: Herewith a Definitive Manual….  New York, etc.: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1969.  4to.  12 ¼ x 8 ¼ inches.  75, (3) pp.  Half-title, printed throughout in blue and black inks, chapter heads, 11 illustrations, bibliography, index; text clean, un-marked.  Black-stamped brown cloth, dust-jacket; binding square and tight, jacket rubbed.  Very Good.

                                                                                                                                                      $ 45

SECOND EDITION.  This book was first issued in a limited edition of 140 copies, which were printed on a Columbian hand press at the Allen Press.  The present edition was offset from proofs of the limited edition.  This is the first thorough manual on hand press printing since those of the nineteenth century – which are now completely obsolete and seriously misleading.  Its purpose is fourfold: 1) to enable hand press owners to produce top-quality printing; 2) to encourage those with increased leisure time to practice hand press printing as a serious avocation; 3) to stimulate a renaissance in fine printing; and 4) to acquaint collectors with methods involved in hand-produced books.  From the jacket flap. 

 

2          ALLEN, Lewis M.  Printing with the Handpress: Herewith a Definitive Manual….  Huntington, NY: Robert E. Krieger, 1976.  4to.  11 ¼ x 8 ¼ inches.  75, (3) pp.  Half-title, printed throughout in mauve and black inks, chapter heads, 11 illustrations, bibliography, index, printed on laid paper; text clean, un-marked.  Gilt-stamped red leatherette; binding square and tight.  Very Good.

                                                                                                                                                      $ 50

LATER EDITION of the previous book in a handsome leatherette binding.  An influential work.

 

An Outstanding Example of the Work of Lewis Allen:

 

3          STEVENSON, Robert Louis (1850-1894).  La Porte de Maletroit.  San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1962.  8vo.  8 x 5 3/8 inches.  60 pp.  Half-title, title page printed within a colored border, 2 decorative initials, 4 full-page illustrations in terra-cotta blue and gold by Ray Bethers, coat of arms and illustrations heightened in gold by hand, running heads in blue; text clean, un-marked.  Cream stiff wrappers, titled in blue on spine and in red on the front covers, glassine covering, housed in a French-style slipcase with inner chemise, slipcase titled in gilt on the spine; binding square and tight.  Fine.

                                                                                                                                                    $ 300

LIMITED EDITION of 300 copies printed by the L-D Allen Press in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France in handset Garamond type on handmade paper.  The second book printed for the Club outside California, and the first to date printed outside the United States.  Stevenson’s retelling of a famous medieval tale.  Designed and printed by Lewis and Dorothy Allen “printed on a hand-press, Gallic and temperamental, which caused the Allens considerable anguish, though the aid of a French typesetter who knew no English added to the gaiety of the proceedings.  Reference: Magee, The Hundredth Book, No. 81. 

TERMS OF SALE: Subject to Prior Sale. Dealer discount: 10 %. Postage and insurance: $ 5.00. Check or PayPal preferred; credit cards also accepted. Institutions, dealers known to us, and prior customers in good standing may request invoice; otherwise CWO. All items are guaranteed, returnable and fully refundable within 30 days of receipt, provided prior notice of return given. CA sales tax where applicable, unless valid resale certificate provided or on file. Call or e-mail to reserve.


John Howell 310 367-9720