C-S The Master Craftsman: An account of the work of T.J. Cobden-Sanderson & Cobden-Sanderson’s Partnership with Emery Walker
Harper Woods, Michigan: The Adagio Press, 1969.
Limited Edition. Hardcover.
#XLI (#41) of a total of LXXV (75) copies which contain a Dove Press Bible folio leaf on handmade paper and a (Faust) quarto leaf on vellum. Signed by printer Leonard F. Bahr on the colophon.
The type was set by hand in 14 point Palatino Roman with Pascal as a supplement. Each page was printed singly in at least two colors. Bound in the studio of Gertrud and Fritz Eberhardt of Harleysville, Pennsylvania with Cockerell marbled paper over boards and vellum spine with titles stamped in gold. Each copy has two leaves printed at The Doves Press: one a folio leaf from the famous Doves Bible; the other a quarto leaf which is typical of most Doves work. Also laid in is a mounted photograph of Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker in the courtyard of the Doves Press ca. 1904 made from a print of the original negative taken by Dr. Charles T. Silve. Also includes Prospectus. From a total of 329 copies printed, of which fewer than 180 were to be offered for sale.
The work of The Doves Press provides some of the most remarkable achievements in printing history. Its personal history also contains one of the most regrettable clashes between two people. C-S The Master Craftsman discusses both of these aspects of The Doves Press and the two men synonymous with it: T. J. Cobden-Sanderson and Sir Emery Walker. In the first of the two essays collected here, collector Norman Strouse draws from Cobden-Sanderson’s Pro Iracundia sua Apologia which represents C-S’s personal record and position on his controversial relationship with Emery Walker. In the second essay, typographer John Dreyfus discusses the Cobden-Sanderson – Walker partnership and proffers previously unpublished documents related to their conflict, including a statement by Emery Walker compiled for his lawyer.
Item #90246810-1/8 x 15-1/4", quarter vellum with gilt titles, marbled paper over boards, pumpkin-colored endpapers, deckled edges, 54pp, folio leaf from the Doves Bible, quarto leaf from Dove's Faust (Act II, Scene 1), black & white photographic illustration made from a print of the original negative on 7-3/8 x 11" on yellow-green card stock with black print laid in, & tri-fold prospectus printed in three colors laid in.
Bumping to lower corners of boards, soft creasing to first free endpaper, clean, tight, internally bright, very good+ in original acetate dust wrapper.
Price: $1,500.00