<  Go back

Last Bird & Bull book on Henry Morris's handmade paper

THIRTY YEARS OF BIRD & BULL A BIBLIOGRAPHY, 1958-1988.
Heaney, Howell J.
With a foreword and commentary by Henry Morris.

- Newtown : Bird & Bull Press 1988 - 8vo. - three-quarter morocco, Bird & Bull Press paste-paper over boards, morocco spine label. - Accompanied by a cloth folder containing various text pages and ephemera; both inserted in a cloth-covered and lined clamshell box with a morocco spine label. 104 pages. - Order Nr. 88867 - Price: $ 600.00

Limited to only 300 copies; special copies purchased from Henry Morris and numbered 3 to 10 in the colophon (Leaf Book - Chalmers 190). These copies came from Henry Morris's private stock and contain "the most choice stuff". This is the last copy purchased and is numbered "8". The book contains a complete bibliographical description of all books and selected ephemera printed by and for the press plus books printed by the press for others, since 1980. There is also a short-title list of all the entries from the 1979 bibliography, making this the definitive work on this fine private press. Each entry lists the collation, reprints the colophon and in most cases has a fascinating and enlightening commentary written by Henry Morris. All the humor is there, along with thoughts and beliefs that can probably only really be appreciated by a fellow letterpress printer who feels the anxiety, frustration and total commitment that goes into a private press production! Mention must be made of the type specimen list, contained within the folder of ephemera, which must be one of the most innovative and unique type specimens ever produced. Amazingly the book itself also has tipped-in samples and facsimile pages. Henry Morris took over two years to produce this book making all his own paper, writing, hand typesetting, printing in two colors, folding, pasting, etc. It certainly is a fitting tribute to the press's 30th anniversary. It was the last book produced by the press on paper made by hand by Henry Morris. Priced separately.

E-mail/Export ?

Books of related interests - -

> Harris, Elizabeth M., THE ART OF MEDAL ENGRAVING.
> Fine, Ruth E. and William Matheson, PRINTERS' CHOICE, CATALOGUE OF AN EXHIBITION HELD AT THE GROLIER CLUB NEW YORK, DECEMBER 19, 1978 - FEBRUARY 3, 1979. A SELECTION OF AMERICAN PRESS BOOKS, 1968-1978.
> Taylor, W Thomas and Henry Morris, TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF BIRD & BULL A BIBLIOGRAPHY, 1958-1979.
> Morris, Henry, FORTY-FOUR YEARS OF BIRD & BULL. A BIBLIOGRAPHY, 1958-2002.

FINE PRINTS by Bender, J. H. (editor) Fine Prints was a periodical published monthly, except for June-August, for which there are no publication. Vols. I-IV include the covers of each issue as subdividers; Vol. V has no divisions. Vol. I resets the page count for each issue; Vols. II-V do not and contain (iv),219+(1); (vi),223+(1); (vi),215+(1); (vi),223+(1) pages. Each issue contains a table of contents and a list of the many prints in each book, which are mostly black-and-white, but Vol. I contains a few color prints as well. The catalogue for the Thomas J. Watson Library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art indicates there is also a Vol. VI, not included in this set. It also references the date of publication of Vol. V as 1936-1942, although it appears to be 1935-36, following the order of the preceding volumes. Most volumes have corners and spines slightly bumped, spine slightly faded, and small white soilings in various spots on covers, except Vol. III. With the pencil signature of Gavin Bridson on the endpapers of each volume.