Books for Typographers, Printers, and Collectors

Please note: The books below are available on a first-come, first-served basis, will be shipped after payment is received, and may be returned within ten days for any reason. A small shipping charge may need to be made depending on your order. If you are interested in any of these publications, have any questions, or would like any further information about any of these books, please send an email to proprietor@theprinterybooks.com.

AMORY, HUGH & HALL, DAVID D. A History of the Book in America. Vol. One: The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World. American Antiquarian Society and Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, 1999. Quarto. 662 pp.

Cloth over boards with dustwrapper. First edition. Carries the interrelated stories of printing, publishing, writing, and reading and traces censorship and freedom of the press from the beginning of the colonial period in America up to 1790. New copy. $125.00

[ANGELO, VALENTI] LONGFELLOW, HENRY WADSWORTH. The Song of Hiawatha. The Peter Pauper Press. Mount Vernon, 1942. 138 pp.

One of 1650 copies. With numerous single color illustrations by Valenti Angelo. Patterned boards. With Vance Gerry's book plate and early owner signatures on front end-paper. Very good. $17.50.

BRACKENRIDGE, H. M. Views of Louisiana; Together with a Journal of a Voyage up the Missouri River, in 1811. Cramer, Spear and Richbaum. Pittsburgh, 1814. 8vo, 304 pp.

Original cloth spine with paper covered boards. First edition. The first part entitled Views is a complete history of Louisiana and Missouri to 1812. Journal of a Voyage is one of the earliest personal travel narratives up the Missouri after Lewis & Clark. In 1811 the author accompanied Manuel Lisa to the Missouri Fur Trading Company’s fort above the Mandan Villages. He describes the Indians and his meeting with the Hunt-Bradbury party, which was on the way to Oregon for J. J. Astor. Boards worn and cloth partially perished; however, the binding is still solid and this is a very good copy for this book. Boxed. $1,650.00

BRUCE, DAVID. History of Typefounding in the United States. The Typophiles. New York, 1981. 8vo, 80 pp.

One of 1,500 copies. Heavy paper wrapper with label. Edited and annotated from the original holograph manuscript by Dr. James Eckman. A reminiscent discourse about an era when the casting of printers types changed from hand to machine methods. Fine. $17.50

[CATALOGUE] The Legacy of James D. Hart at The Bancroft Library, 1970-1990. The Friends of the Bancroft Library. Berkley, 1991. Quarto, 96 pp.

James D. Hart was appointed Director of the Library in 1969 after negotiating the merger of the Rare Book Department into the Bancroft Library and then proceeded to undertake the complete remodeling of the Bancroft’s space. However, his greatest accomplishment was establishing and building endowments that allowed the Library to carry out its mission with a measure of independence. Fine. $10.00

DeCONDE, ALEXANDER. This Affair of Louisiana. Charles Scribner's Sons. New York, 1976. 8vo, 325 pp.

Paper over boards. DeConde presents a provocative thesis about the early years of the American nation, telling the compelling story of the struggle among Americans, Spaniards, English, and French for the vast territory called Louisiana. Dust jacket edge is slightly worn but not clipped. Book is very tight and in excellent condition with one small stain on bottom trim edge. $27.50

DREIER, THOMAS. The Power of Print – and Men. Commemorating the Fifty Years of Linotype’s Contribution to Printing and Publishing. Mergenthaler Linotype Company. Brooklyn, 1936. 166 pp.

This is the story of the invention of the Linotype machine and the development of the company during its first fifty years. The book is designed by W. A. Dwiggins, the text set in Electra, and his decorations are employed on the chapter openers. A Merganthaler Linotype promotional piece for Dwiggins’ types and decorative materials is laid-in. Fine. $200.00.

[GOUDY] SCOTT, TEMPLE. The Work of Frederic W. Goudy, Printer and Craftsman. The Pisces Connection. Rochester, 1990. Quarto, 32 pp.

Heavy printed wrappers. One of 225 copies. This is a reprint of a little known 1912 interview with Goudy and contains the first account of Goudy’s earliest type designs and includes examples of Goudy’s work along with a handsome photograph of Goudy as a young man. Fine. $20.00

[GOUDY] Twenty Years of the Frederic W. Goudy Award. The Press of the Good Mountain. Rochester, 1988. Quarto, 96 pp.

Heavy printed wrappers. Chronicles the contributions of Howard W. Coggeshall and Melbert B. Cary, Jr.in establishing the Goudy Award. Includes brief biographies of the twenty recipients along with their portraits and facsimiles of their autographs. A great way to glean a basic introduction to such graphic arts icons as: Hermann Zapf, Warren Chappell, Bob Middleton, Giovanni Mardersteig, Father Catich, Alexander Lawson, Bradbury Thompson, Adrian Frutiger, etc. Fine. $20.00

ROGERS, BRUCE. Champ Fleury by Geofroy Tory.The Grolier Club. New York, 1927. Folio, 234 pp.

Vellum spine with paste-paper boards. Designed by Bruce Rogers and printed by William Edwin Rudge. English translation of this landmark 16th century work on the formation of letters. This is one of the most important examples of Bruce Rogers’ design work and is one of his thirty favorites. Covers a bit rubbed. Spine has two small gouges, otherwise a tight copy in fine condition. Folio. Regularly listed at between $800 and $900. Our price is $495.00.

SIDNEY, SIR PHILLIP. Certaine Sonets Written by Sir Philip Sidney. Houghton, Mifflin & Company. Cambridge, 1904. 8vo, 64 pp.

Number 41 of 430 copies. Vellum spine with paper over boards. Designed by Bruce Rogers and printed at the Riverside Press. Translations of thirty-one of Sidney's 16th century poems published separately here for the first time. Handsome two color title page with Rogers mark on the colophon. Printed at The Riverside Press. Uncut and fine. $90.00

[THOMAS] SHIPTON, CLIFFORD K. Isaiah Thomas. Printer, Patriot, Philanthropist. The Printing House of Leo Hart. Rochester, 1948. 94 pp.

The second volume of the Printer’s Valhalla Series. Case bound. Dustwrapper is chipped with a small, neatly taped tear at top of spine. Book is very good. $15.00

STARRETT, VINCENT. Books Alive: A Profane Chronicle of Literary Endeavor and Literary Misdemeanor. Random House. New York, 1940. 360 pp.

First edition. “One good anecdote is proverbially better than a volume of ingenious analyses . . . ” This book makes literature “alive” and interesting. Dustwrapper chipped at head and foot of spine. Otherwise very good. $35.00.

VAN DOREN, CARL [EDITOR]. The Letters of Benjamin Franklin & Jane Mecom. Printed for The American Philosophical Society by Princeton University Press. Princeton, 1950. 380 pp.

Cloth over boards. Without dustwrapper. Charming correspondence between Benjamin Franklin and his sister, both of whom were skilled and entertaining writers. Very good. $65.00

WAIN, JOHN. Samuel Johnson. A Biography. The Viking Press. New York, 1974. 8vo, 388 pp.

Cloth spine with paper over boards. Mr. Wain describes the early life of England’s greatest man of letters, his stupendous intellectual energy, his struggle with poverty, his familiarity with defeat, and his thwarted careers. The central portion of the book relates the Herculean effort that went into the preparation of the Dictionary and then goes on to the mature work of Johnson’s later life. Illustrated. With dustwrapper. Very good. $25.00

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