The Brothers
Kentfield, California: The Allen Press, 1968.
Limited Edition. Hardcover.
Allen Press Book #32. Limited Edition of one hundred forty copies. With twenty-seven drawings by Albrecht Durer. Translated from the French by Justin O’Brien.
The type face is Menhart Unciala, set by hand; this marks its first use in a book produced in America. The type face used for display is Hadriano stone cut. The all-rag paper was made by hand at the Woopley Hole Mill in England, to our specifications, and bears the watermark of the press; it was printed damp on an 1846 Columbian handpress. The cover paper is Fabriano from Italy, and the decorative cloth for the spine was imported from Germany especially for this edition. Designed, printed and bound by Lewis and Dorothy Allen.
The Durer plates are mostly from pen and ink drawings on white-grounded wood in the collection of the Kunstmuseum, Basel. The museum supplied photographs of the eroded and worn images that were restored photographically by George Lewis of San Francisco. Metal plates of the 27 illustrations were made for this edition.
The English translation of the original Latin is based on that made by Laurence Echard in 1698. The Durer drawings used here have never been used before to illustrate a Terence play. A rare Durer illustration of a contemporary Roman theater appears on the cover. Housed in slipcase.
Item #9025558-3/4 x 13-1/4", quarter patterned cloth, pumpkin-colored paper over boards with black illustration and title front board, green endpapers, 34 unnumbered leaves, deckled edges, 27 drawings, title in blue and black, woodcut heads are printed in brown and the chapter numbers are printed in blue-green throughout.
Very fine in a slipcase with a bit of scuffing on one panel.
Price: $400.00