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Catalogue: SPRING 2013 PUBLISHING CATALOGUE
 
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SPRING 2013
PUBLISHING CATALOGUE

Featuring our new publishing and distribution titles, as well as a selection of older favorites

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See More... 1  (Magnus, Charles) McKinstry, E. Richard CHARLES MAGNUS, LITHOGRAPHER: ILLUSTRATING AMERICA'S PAST, 1850-1900.
New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press 2013 7 x 10 inches hardcover, dust jacket 200 pages
Charles Magnus (1826-1900) was one of the most prolific American printers of ephemera during the late nineteenth century. A native of Germany, he immigrated to New York City around 1850, where he enjoyed a long, creative career printing ephemera such as songsheets, illustrated stationery, birds eye views, maps, board games, puzzles, greeting cards, and rewards of merit. He also published several books and supplied illustrations for others. Given the range of his printing and publishing efforts, it is likely that many households of the time would have had something with his name on it.

This book first examines Magnus as a person, then details the various kinds of items he published, giving a full chapter to his many Civil War era products. It considers his early life in Germany, his family, and his business activities in America. It focuses on him as a businessman who was concerned about making a living to support his family and employees, addresses how he advertised, and discusses how he never relinquished his ties to Europe and his native Germany.

Due to the ephemeral nature of Magnus's imprints, the lifespan of most of his work was short, making them rare survivors in today's collecting institutions. Yet, as examples of the pervasive vernacular visual culture of the nineteenth century, they are important to both scholars and collectors. Documenting nearly a half century of the American experience, they inform us about the games children played, ballads that adults read and sang, the sites of Civil War battles, advertising strategies, and sentiments expressed through valentines.

Throughout the book are over 100 color illustrations of Magnus's work and portraits of him and his family. An appendix lists the items mentioned by title in the book and records where at least one copy of each can be located. A comprehensive index completes the volume.

Price: $ 59.95 other currencies Order nr. 110132

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See More... 2  Kirkpatrick, Robert FROM THE PENNY DREADFUL TO THE HA'PENNY DREADFULLER.
A Bibliographic History of the Boys' Periodical in Britain, 1762 - 1950 New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press and The British Library 2013 6.75 x 9.5 inches hardcover, dust jacket 586 pages
This book tells, for the first time, the full history of the British boys' periodical, from its origins in the second half of the 18th century to its decline after the Second World War. It contains 100 black-and-white illustrations and 16 in color.

Beginning with educational and religious magazines, it follows the trail through the violent and sensational 'penny blood' which thrived between around 1830 and 1870, to early attempts to entertain as well as educate boys through monthly magazines, and the ground-breaking weekly story papers and 'penny dreadfuls' of Edwin J. Brett, beginning with Boys of England in 1866, and his rivalry with the Emmett brothers and other publishers.

It also looks at cheap periodical publishing for boys in America, before exploring the introduction of more 'respectable' periodicals such as the Boy's Own Paper and Chums, and the attempts of a young Alfred Harmsworth, later Lord Northcliffe and founder of the Amalgamated Press, to usurp the 'penny dreadful' by producing the 'ha'penny dreadfuller'.

Finally, it charts the progress of the story paper through the first half of the 20th century, before it gave way to comics, imported American magazines, and television. It concludes with a comprehensive checklist, giving publication details of over 600 periodicals.

Robert J. Kirkpatrick is the author of Bullies, Beaks and Flannelled Fools: An Annotated Bibliography of Boys School Fiction, 1742 - 2000 (privately published, 1990 and 2001) and The Encyclopaedia of Boys School Stories (Ashgate, 2000). He is a long-standing member of the Childrens Books History Society, and a regular contributor to the Societys newsletter as well as to newsletters from other literary societies. In an earlier life he spent many years working as a welfare benefits adviser for a London housing association, and was the author of several books and articles on housing benefit and other social security matters.

Available outside North and South America from the British Library

Price: $ 85.00 other currencies Order nr. 108513

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See More... 3  (Reed, Ethel) Peterson, William S. THE BEAUTIFUL POSTER LADY: A LIFE OF ETHEL REED.
New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press 2013 6 x 9 inches hardcover, dust jacket 160 pages
Ethel Reed (1874-1912) is one of the most elusive figures in the history of American graphic design. Born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, she moved in the 1890s to Boston, where, while still in her early twenties, she achieved international recognition for her posters - and for her personal glamour. "The beautiful poster lady" is how newspapers of the day described her, and they often went on to claim that she was the most famous woman artist in America. Ethel Reed was an extraordinarily vivid personality of the fin de siècle and a striking early example of a media celebrity.

But in 1896, following a broken engagement, she sailed to Europe, contributed to the two final issues of the Yellow Book in London, and then, after the turn of the century, vanished in the fog (to use her own phrase). Now William S. Peterson, through meticulous archival research, has at last been able to reconstruct the story of her life in England. Though unsuccessful in renewing her artistic career, she found lovers there, bore two children, and eventually married Arthur Warwick, an English army officer. Yet the marriage fell apart immediately, and her final years were darkened by poverty, drug addiction, and alcoholism.

This is the only book-length treatment of her work as a designer - and the first successful attempt to recover Ethel Reed's enigmatic, hidden life. It includes 16 color plates of her posters and 47 black-and-white illustrations.

William S. Peterson (Professor Emeritus of English, University of Maryland), a bibliographer and book historian, has edited three scholarly journals and has written or edited sixteen books, the most recent of which is (in collaboration with Sylvia Holton Peterson) The Kelmscott Chaucer: A Census (Oak Knoll Press, 2011). One of his books was nominated for a National Book Award, and another was the winner of the 1993 Felice Feliciano Award. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow and a Visiting Fellow at Exeter College, Oxford.

Price: $ 39.95 other currencies Order nr. 110254

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See More... 4  (Dickens, Charles) Smith, Walter E. CHARLES DICKENS: A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HIS FIRST AMERICAN EDITIONS 1836 - 1870.
Calabasas David Brass Rare Books, Inc. 2012 8 x 10.75 inches hardcover, dust jacket 456 pages
This significant work identifies the first and early American editions of Charles Dickens's novels and Sketches by Boz and traces their publishing history, including various impressions and sub-editions, from 1836 to 1870, the year of Dickens's death. Each of the entries provides detailed textual data and binding descriptions and is supplemented by photographic reproductions of title pages and bindings. The notes contain interesting comments about the novels, including their appearances in newspapers and journals, typographical points, and payments made to Dickens.

The bibliography was compiled from firsthand examinations of the books at major libraries and institutions throughout the country, in private collections, and in the possession of several rare book dealers. The content complements and stylistically conforms to the author's previous two-volume bibliography on Dickens's English editions. The book is an indispensable source of reference for libraries, collectors, booksellers, researchers, and students of Victorian literature since no other work of this magnitude on Dickens's American editions has ever been undertaken or published.

Price: $ 95.00 other currencies Order nr. 110013

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  5 
Available Fall 2013

Staikos, Konstantinos
THE HISTORY OF THE LIBRARY IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION - EPILOGUE AND GENERAL INDEX.
VI New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press and HES & DE GRAAF Publishers BV 2013 8.5 x 11.5 inches hardcover approx. 200
This extensive index on all five volumes will identify all proper names, places, and subjects covered in this comprehensive and scholarly series. Co-published with HES & DE GRAAF Publishers BV, The Netherlands and Kotinos Publications, Athens, Greece. Sales Rights: Worldwide except Europe; in Europe from HES & DE GRAAF. Available in 2013.

Order all five volumes of The History of the Library in Western Civilization series at one time and get the Index volume for free.

Price: $ 45.00 other currencies Order nr. 90190

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See More... 6  Staikos, Konstantinos THE HISTORY OF THE LIBRARY IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION: FROM MINOS TO CLEOPATRA.
New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press and HES & DE GRAAF Publishers BV 2004 small 4to. cloth, dust jacket 374 pages
This work is the first in an important, five-volume series addressing the unique role libraries have played in building and preserving Western culture. Mr. Staikos has become one of our foremost scholars on library history, writing such books as this, as well as works like "The Great Libraries," a classic in its field. This first volume reveals the rich history of the early archive libraries from Crete to the famous library of the Ptolemies in Alexandria. Through well-researched text and many full-color illustrations, the author guides his readers over 1800 years of mankind's struggle to preserve his knowledge by the written word. Co-published with HES & DE GRAAF Publishers BV and Kotinos Publications. Sales Rights: worldwide except EU.

Order all five volumes of The History of the Library in Western Civilization series at one time and get the Index volume for free.

Price: $ 75.00 other currencies Order nr. 74805

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See More... 7  Staikos, Konstantinos THE HISTORY OF THE LIBRARY IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION: THE ROMAN WORLD - FROM CICERO TO HADRIAN.
II. New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press and HES & DE GRAAF Publishers BV 2005 8.5 x 11.5 inches. Hardcover, dust jacket 364 pages.
This second volume continues Staikos' brilliant history of the library from the early days of the Roman Republic to the "Golden Age" of Imperial Rome and the Emperor Hadrian. Extensively researched and beautifully illustrated with many rare photographs and drawings. Printed in Athens with careful attention to detail. Co-published with HES & DE GRAAF Publishers BV, The Netherlands and Kotinos Publications, Athens, Greece. Sales Rights: Worldwide except Europe; in Europe from HES & DE GRAAF.

Order all five volumes of The History of the Library in Western Civilization series at one time and get the Index volume for free.

Price: $ 75.00 other currencies Order nr. 76540

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See More... 8  Staikos, Konstantinos THE HISTORY OF THE LIBRARY IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION: THE BYZANTINE WORLD - FROM CONSTANTINE THE GREAT TO CARDINAL BESSARION.
Vol. III From Constantine the Great to Cardinal Bessarion: Imperial, Monastic, School and Private Libraries in the Byzantine World New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press and HES & DE GRAAF Publishers BV 2007 8.5 x 11.5 inches hardcover 608 pages
The third volume of The History of the Library spans a period of more than a thousand years and covers an area stretching from Alexandria and Trebizond to Calabria and Sicily in the south of Italy. The author explores the end of the ancient world and the closure and destruction of its monumental libraries, and describes the formation of the great monastic libraries, such as St. Catherine's on Mount Sinai, the Monastery of Studius in Constantinople, the group of monasteries on Mount Athos and the famous library in the Monastery of St. John on Patmos. Finally, he examines all the known palace, public, university and private libraries in the whole of the Byzantine Empire, and discusses the book trade as well.

Among the libraries included in this third volume are those formed in the states that emerged after the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204, such as the Empires of Nicaea and Trebizond, the Despotate of Epirus and the Kingdom of Thessalonica. In addition, special attention is given to the book collections of monasteries in the Kingdom of Cyprus and the libraries in the Despotate of the Morea, one of the last Greek bastions to hold out against the Turkish conquest, where the famous Neoplatonist philosopher Plethon taught.

Altogether there are nine chapters in this volume and the text is enlivened with more than two hundred color and black-and-white illustrations covering a wide variety of subjects, such as illuminated manuscripts, engravings, maps, drawings, archaeological sites and imaginary and real library interiors. The ninth chapter deals with the architectural characteristics of Byzantine libraries from the end of Late Antiquity to the monastic libraries of the eleventh century onwards.

Co-published with HES & DE GRAAF Publishers BV, The Netherlands and Kotinos Publications, Athens, Greece. Sales Rights: Worldwide except Europe; available in Europe from HES & DE GRAAF.

Order all five volumes of The History of the Library in Western Civilization series at one time and get the Index volume for free.

Price: $ 75.00 other currencies Order nr. 76542

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See More... 9  Staikos, Konstantinos THE HISTORY OF THE LIBRARY IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION: THE MEDIEVAL WORLD IN THE WEST - FROM CASSIODORUS TO FURNIVAL.
Volume IV New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press and HES & DE GRAAF Publishers BV 2010 8.5 x 11.5 inches hardcover, dust jacket 532 pages
This fourth volume discusses the publishing procedure for secular and religious writings of late antiquity and the factors that led to the impoverishment of the monumental libraries in Rome. New centers of learning grew up in the monasteries, where great libraries containing educational and instructive books and representative works of Christian literature came into being. Monastic libraries were founded throughout Europe, including the regions with Celtic and Anglo-Saxon populations: those at Monte Cassino, Bobbio, St. Gallen, Fulda, Cluny and elsewhere are dealt with extensively. Mention is also made of the libraries founded in universities and of the new philosophy of forming school libraries, as in Bologna and Paris.

Eight chapters unfold the events that influenced the tradition of libraries in the West beginning when Christianity was imposed as the official religion of the Empire. The first chapter includes the realignment of populations of the North, the formation of new kingdoms, and the emergence of new intellectual centres. The more general movement of books is contrasted to the reproduction of books with Roman literary works of the Late Roman period and the issue of Christian education is touched upon discussing its models according to the Church Fathers, as well as the ancient personalities who exchanged letters with Christians on the topic of the role played by monastic centres in relation to books.

Chapter two presents the practices of authorship and publication, the reproduction of books, and their availability movement according to St. Jerome. An attempt is also made to reconstruct the library of St. Augustine, calculating which books he would have required in order to complete his written works. Lastly, the Vivarium is also described as a model monastic centre, as are the role of the scriptorium and the significance of the Bible in the Christian conscience. The third chapter is devoted to the British Isles: the promotion of regional tribes to kingdoms, the course of their conversion to Christianity, and the nature of the education cultivated in the monastic centres of the period. Mention is also made of the role played by the various local centres in the preservation of ancient literature, and its transfusion by missionaries to Continental Europe from the pre-Carolingian era on.

The fourth chapter deals with the Carolingian era, Charlemagne's contribution to upgrading schooling, the foundation of a considerable number of monastic centres based on books, and the chronicle of the founding of Charlemagne's personal library. There is also an extensive description of two major monastic centres of books, St. Gallen and Corbie, as well as descriptions of their scriptorium and library. Chapter five assesses the influence exerted by the Carolingian period in the diffusion of knowledge and books in general and gives examples of the private libraries of men and officials of the Church. The birth of a new family of books is noted as national languages find their place, and educational centres and their libraries are established in cathedrals.

The birth of the university in all the European countries is the subject of the sixth chapter, as an unprecedented system in regard to books, and an indispensable tool for education. There is an extensive description of the Sorbonne's college library and of the new teaching methods, comprising theology and a reassessment of the Aristotelian corpus. The interests of eminent men of letters are outlined in chapter seven, in the matter of books and the genesis of the French royal library, with a chronicle of the papal library at Avignon and at Hereford Cathedral.

Finally, chapter eight is an overview of the installation of the library as architecture. The diverse bookstands serving as diminutive 'libraries' are described, up to the time when chambers were set aside to function as libraries. Co-published with HES & DE GRAAF Publishers BV, The Netherlands and Kotinos Publications, Athens, Greece. Sales Rights: Worldwide except Europe; in Europe from HES & DE GRAAF.

Order all five volumes of The History of the Library in Western Civilization series at one time and get the Index volume for free.

Price: $ 75.00 other currencies Order nr. 76544

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See More... 10  Staikos, Konstantinos Sp. THE HISTORY OF THE LIBRARY IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION: THE RENAISSANCE - FROM PETRARCH TO MICHELANGELO.
V. New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press and HES & DE GRAAF Publishers BV 2012 8.5 x 11.5 inches hardcover, dust jacket 624 pages
With the publication of Volume V, the last stage in the development of the library is revealed. Like the rest of the books in The History of the Library series, this volume is beautifully designed and fully illustrated in color.

This fifth and final volume of The History of the Library in Western Civilization contains eight chapters giving a comprehensive account of the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and the effects of the revival of interest in the Greco-Roman tradition on the European cultural scene, at both the secular and religious level.

The first chapter looks at the early exponents of humanism in Europe and assesses their role in the revival and promotion of classical thinking. It also describes the particular characteristics of the books in the libraries of pioneers of the humanist movement, such as Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Leonzio Pilato, and the organization of the first bilingual library of the Renaissance by Palla Strozzi in Florence.

With Byzantine scholars leaving Constantinople and settling at first in Italy, bringing their fine collections of books with them, the second chapter describes the 'brain drain' from East to West in the fifteenth century. It discusses the systematic study and diffusion of the Greek language, while including brief historical accounts of three humanistic libraries: those of Novello Malatesta and Cardinal Bessarion, and the Vatican Library. Three more great libraries: those of King Matthias Corvinus, Janus Pannonius, and the Medici family are described in the third chapter, as the part played by the invention of printing in the spread of learning and the formation of libraries is explored.

The fourth chapter describes the character of French humanism and the role of the scholarly circle in Paris that sowed the seeds of humanist learning, and gives the salient facts about its leading members. There is a section on the formation of the French royal library, its contents, and the persons chiefly responsible for its growth, and another dealing with the contribution made by French printers to the spread of humanism and of books in general.

With a long section on Erasmus, the fifth chapter examines his study of scholarly books, his work as an editor, his edition of the New Testament, and the manuscripts that provided him with his material. Erasmus's correspondence with civic and ecclesiastical dignitaries, scholars, and printers around Europe implies the existence of a 'common library' shared by the humanists. Also in the fifth chapter is a discussion of Geneva's position as a publishing centre of books by Reformers and a refuge for those who supported Luther and Calvin's objections to the practices of the Catholic Church.

The next chapter is chiefly concerned with those parts of every library that contained copies of the new Christian literature embodied in the writings of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, new translations of the Bible into the vernacular, and the many books written about religious disputes. It covers the dispersal of the monastic libraries in England and discusses the libraries of men of letters and scholars throughout Europe. Furthermore, in the seventh chapter, insight is given into the nature of the new libraries created in the late sixteenth century, containing contemporary pity works and prose and verse adaptations of medieval classics in booklet form. It concludes with a chronicle of the founding of the Oxford University library by Sir Thomas Bodley.

The final chapter oversees the Renaissance library architecture and the great changes in library design that resulted from the creation of many public libraries and the opening of libraries generally to a wider public. The three-aisled library, designed by Michelozzo, is introduced, and its influence on monastic libraries in Italy, and to the libraries designed by Domenico Fontana, Jacopo Sansovino, Michelangelo, and others is explained.

Sales Rights: Worldwide except Europe; in Europe from HES & DE GRAAF.

Order all five volumes of The History of the library in Western Civilization series at one time and get the Index volume for free.

Price: $ 75.00 other currencies Order nr. 76546

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See More... 11  Pirie, James W. WILLIAM STAFFORD: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.
New Castle, Delaware and Portland, Oregon Oak Knoll Press and Lewis & Clark College 2013 6 x 9 inches hardcover with dust jacket 544 pages
William Stafford (1914-1993) was one of the most prolific and important American poets of the last half of the twentieth century. Among his many awards, Stafford served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, and received the National Book Award in 1963 for his poetry collection Traveling through the Dark. During his lifetime, Stafford wrote over sixty books of poetry that still resonate with a wide range of readers. Stafford's perspectives on peace, the environment, and education serve as some of the most articulate dialogues by a modern American writer.

James W. Pirie (1913-2002) was the author of Books for Junior College Libraries: A Selected List of Approximately 19,700 Titles (1969) and Typology of Institutions of Higher Education (1974). As the well-respected Director of Aubrey R. Watzek Library at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, from 1966 to 1982, Pirie worked closely with his friend and colleague William Stafford to maintain an accurate bibliographic record of Staffords numerous publications. Following James Piries death in 2002, the Lewis & Clark College Special Collections staff expanded and updated Pirie's bibliography for this volume, the only comprehensive bibliography of William Stafford's writings.

Price: $ 79.95 other currencies Order nr. 110070

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See More... 12  (Red Hen Press) Patkus, Ronald D. SHIRLEY JONES AND THE RED HEN PRESS.
A bibliography by Ronald D. Patkus with commentary by the artist. Poughkeepsie, NY Vassar College 2013 8.5 x 11 inches paperback 80 pages
Shirley Jones, printmaker, etcher, published poet, and self-taught letterpress printer, founded the Red Hen Press imprint in 1983, though she has been publishing artist's books to critical acclaim since 1975. This bibliography celebrates the Press's thirtieth anniversary, and serves as an accompaniment to exhibitions of Shirley Jones's books taking place at Vassar College, the University of Vermont, Smith College, and Swarthmore College throughout 2013. The entries are each preceded by notes written by Shirley Jones. She offers comments about various aspects of the production of individual editions. These notes offer the artist's unique perspective on three decades of bookmaking. Each entry consists of collation data, a list of contents, typographical data, the paper used, binding type, and more. Every entry is also accompanied by a full color illustration from the discussed title.
Price: $ 24.95 other currencies Order nr. 115659

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See More... 13  Knight, Stan HISTORICAL TYPES FROM GUTENBERG TO ASHENDENE.
New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press 2012 9 x 12 inches hardcover with dust jacket 104 pages
Historical Types begins in 1454 with Gutenberg's experiments with moveable type and reaches as far as the Fine Press movement at the beginning of the twentieth century. Every historical example shown in the survey is the result of hand-engraved punches, hand-set type, and pages hand-printed sheet by sheet. The book explores every major development in the design of type and includes some (previously) lesser-known designers whose type designs made significant contributions to the craft. The material is divided into sections by historical period and assigned category numbers for easy reference.

The text of the book provides an excellent historical background to the study of type history, but the primary value of this book is its illustrations. Each entry consists of a double-page spread showing three-fold photographic reproductions of the relevant types - a whole page of the book to show context, an actual-size sample to show scale, and a detailed enlargement to show a closer view of the type. All of the digital photographs for Historical Types have been specially commissioned (with special lighting) to show the type samples in a totally new way, with a size, detail, and clarity not seen before. Each set of illustrations is accompanied by a detailed but concise written commentary. The book also includes an extended introduction describing the book and dealing with significant material outside the scope of the commentaries.

Historical Types stands a step above other books on the history of type because of the size and quality of its reproductions and its straightforward and clear exposition. For these reasons, it should soon become a favorite text for teachers and students of type design, as well as anyone interested in the history of the book.

Price: $ 39.95 other currencies Order nr. 105522

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See More... 14  (Calligraphy) Knight, Stan HISTORICAL SCRIPTS FROM CLASSICAL TIMES TO THE RENAISSANCE.
New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press and John Neal, Bookseller (2009) 4to. hardcover, dust jacket 112 pages.
Reprint with minor corrections of second edition. The craft of calligraphy has a 2000-year history in the Western world. Up to the time of the Renaissance, calligraphy was the only means of preserving literature, and so, it played a vital role in the spread of learning, culture, and religion. Historical scripts were not rigidly-fixed "styles;" they represented the high peaks in an endlessly shifting landscape. Throughout centuries, styles of writing were continually being modified and developed in response to a multitude of influences encompassing political, religious, aesthetic, intellectual, sociological, and pragmatic changes in the ways that books were made and scripts were written. The modern calligrapher, typographer, historian, and anyone interested in western lettering and documents benefits from studying the methods, skills, and attitudes of generations of historical scribes who produced such outstanding and accomplished works for so many centuries.
Revised and expanded, this book is an excellent survey of bookhands with its full-page, enlarged illustrations and solidly researched sources. It is a useful text for studying the history of manuscripts as well as the details of letter construction. This work also helps one make judgments about the technical condition of letter writing and its qualities of rhythm and movement, possible only when consulting an original manuscript. The author has gone to considerable lengths to obtain photographs that are well-focused and lit so that the tactile qualities of surfaces, ink tone, and flow are revealed. The author has chosen examples of formal writing that show a coherent and reasonably consistent relationship between methods of tool use and letter formation, making the construction of a script much easier to grasp in practice. He has also made the effort of selecting writing without idiosyncrasies of style.

Price: $ 39.95 other currencies Order nr. 52752

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See More... 15  Pearson, David BOOKS AS HISTORY: THE IMPORTANCE OF BOOKS BEYOND THEIR TEXTS.
New Castle, Delaware and London, England Oak Knoll Press and The British Library 2012 7.25 x 10 inches paperback 208 pages
This revised third edition of David Pearson's Books as History includes a new foreword, an updated list of further reading, and various other additions and updates. Updated in light of the recent development of the e-book, this version will offer new pictures, new ideas on the life of the book, and further thoughts on how the book will survive.

Books have been hugely important in human civilization as instruments for communicating information and ideas. The digital age has caused the landscape of books to change, with more and more of the traditional functions of books being performed electronically. People usually think of books in terms of their contents or their texts, but in fact, books may possess all kinds of potentially interesting qualities beyond their texts, as designed or artistic objects, or because they have unique properties deriving from the ways they have been printed, bound, annotated, beautified or defaced.

David Pearson explores these themes and uses many examples of books from the Middle Ages to the present day to show why books may be interesting beyond their texts. As the format of the book becomes history - as texts are increasingly communicated electronically - we can recognize that books are also history in another significant way. Books can develop their own individual histories, which provide important evidence about the way they were used and regarded in the past, which make them an indispensable part of the fabric of our cultural heritage. This book will raise awareness of an important aspect of the life of books in the context of the ongoing debate about their future. Extensively illustrated with a wide range of images, it will not only be approachable but also thought-provoking.

David Pearson has extensive experience in managing and working in major research collections. He is also a respected scholar in the field of book history, whose articles and books, including Provenance Research in Book History (Oak Knoll Press and The British Library, 1994) and English Bookbinding Styles, 1450-1800: a Handbook (Oak Knoll Press and The British Library 2005), have focused on various aspects of the ownership and binding of books.

Sales rights: North and South America; available elsewhere from The British Library.

Price: $ 29.95 other currencies Order nr. 109790

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See More... 16 
Signed copy available upon request

Young, Matthew McLennan
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE PRINTERS' INTERNATIONAL SPECIMEN EXCHANGE.
New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press 2012 8.5 x 11 inches hardcover, dust jacket 160 pages
The Rise and Fall of the Printers' International Specimen Exchange is the first in-depth study of an institution whose goal was nothing less than a renaissance of fine printing at a time when quantity mattered far more than quality. The Printers' International Specimen Exchange was founded in 1880, first and foremost as a means to encourage British printers to improve their technical and artistic skills, which lagged far behind those of their American and European counterparts. It came to be a far more international and influential institution than its originators imagined, its 16 volumes including the work of more than 1,000 printing establishments (several times that number of contributors, including employees and apprentices) from 28 different nations.

The story of the Specimen Exchange involves the development of new machinery and processes, "Old Style" vs. "Artistic" printing, the histories of the two innovative printing houses that managed the Exchange, cooperation and conflict among outsize personalities, and the extraordinary efforts of a few talented and dedicated people. The history of the Specimen Exchange also involves a Victorian-style hostile takeover and a separate breach-of-contract court case.

The Specimen Exchange is a record of a remarkable period in letterpress and lithographic printing. As a subscription publication distributed primarily to contributors, only a few hundred copies of each volume were issued, and many of the specimens were produced expressly for the Exchange. Consequently, some of the examples reproduced in this book have not been seen before outside the original volumes, and the selection presented here should delight any printing historian or admirer of good graphic design. This book includes 81 full-page reproductions of some of the best examples, in a wide range of styles and from many countries.

Matthew McLennan Young is a practicing graphic designer and book collector, and the author of a previous study, Field & Tuer, the Leadenhall Press, (Oak Knoll Press and the British Library, 2010) that earned positive reviews in the TLS, the Book Collector and elsewhere. He has presented papers on the Printers' International Specimen Exchange, the Caxton Celebration of 1877, and the Leadenhall Press at various conferences. He and his wife, Valerie, live in Hopewell, New Jersey.

Price: $ 59.95 other currencies Order nr. 108704

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See More... 17 
Signed copy available upon request

Franklin, Colin
OBSESSIONS AND CONFESSIONS OF A BOOK LIFE.
New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press, Books of Kells, and Bernard Quaritch, Ltd. 2012 6 x 9 inches hardcover, dust jacket 296 pages
Reminiscences of an author, bookseller, and publisher, written at the age of eighty-eight, Colin Franklin's newest book is perhaps his most entertaining. It wanders freely through themes which have absorbed him - a lost world of publishing, adventures in bookselling, and the irreplaceable scholarly eccentrics who dominated that world a generation ago. During his numerous trips to Paris, Japan, South Africa, and many universities in the United States, Franklin kept diaries of his accounts which have helped him to put together this new publication. The chapters represent a type of memoir recalling his various book interests developed during his life of publishing and bookselling.

Including serious essays on diverse characters who have fascinated him, the book discusses the Bowdlers and their 'Family Shakespeare'; William Fowler of Winterton, who neglected his humble calling and privately produced books of the greatest magnificence on Roman Mosaic Floors (when these were being discovered under England's green and pleasant land); a little-known Oxford antiquary and print-maker Joseph Skelton; the once-so-popular Robert Surtees and John Leech (much admired by Ruskin), who illustrated his novels; on the neglected theme of Binders' Lettering; and on his lifelong hero William Morris. There is also a new assessment of the Italian printer Giambattista Bodoni, whom Franklin considers to have been finest of them all. A satirical essay called 'Expert', in addition to the anecdotal and narrative style of text, make this an entirely enjoyable work, rich in illustrations and photographs.

Because of Franklin's exhaustive love for books, he has been able to handle some of the most outstanding examples of work he could ever desire. His passion for private presses, early color printings, early editions of Shakespeare, and beautiful Japanese scrolls, has led him to believe that most booksellers, collectors, and even librarians are guided by his or her taste rather than by calculation, just as he has been.

After wartime service in the British Navy, Colin Franklin graduated in English from St. John's College, Oxford and entered the publishing firm of Routledge and Kegan Paul. In middle life the decision was abruptly taken (with his wife's blessing) to quit publishing and turn bookseller. Franklin and his wife Charlotte had five sons and now live near Oxford where they recently celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

Available in Australia from Books of Kells; available in the UK from Bernard Quaritch, Ltd.

Price: $ 49.95 other currencies Order nr. 108511

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See More... 18  Chanin, Eileen BOOK LIFE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF DAVID SCOTT MITCHELL.
New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press 2012 6 x 9.25 inches paperback 496 pages
Australia's greatest book collector, David Scott Mitchell, gave his extraordinary library and a bequest for its development to the people of Sydney and the world. Book Life: The Life and Times of David Scott Mitchell, by Eileen Chanin, is the first comprehensive account of his life and collecting, told through books, readings, and contemporary correspondence.

Mitchell was a man of astoundingly diverse interests whose collection was not merely for show or posterity, but was, in fact, his own personal reading library. Thus, we can learn much about him by examining his books. Previously labeled as an enigma and portrayed as recluse, Mitchell's true self is revealed through this book. Many books in his collection were written by people he knew, and letters reveal a more socially connected Mitchell than ever seen before. Chanin also delves into the historical events he lived through and their impact on his life and collection.

The growth of Australia from an island of criminals to a legitimate nation happened almost literally during Mitchell's lifetime. Mitchell collected books on Australian history before it was even studied at Melbourne University. Without his contributions, it is unlikely that a full history of Australia could be written.

In the foreword, Bob Carr, former Premier of New South Wales, praises Mitchell's benevolence and hails the Mitchell Library as the "DNA of Australia." The story of his life and collection is important to the story of Australia as a nation and is "in danger of slipping from history."

This book features dozens of color illustrations and black-and-white photographs. Also included are notes, bibliography, index, a list of dramatis personae and several family trees.

The first edition sold out within six months - ahead of news that the book was awarded the 2011 Alex Buxo Prize and shortlisted for the prestigious Waverley Library Award for Literature sponsored by the Copyright Agency Limited's Cultural Fund. The book was also one of five books shortlisted for the 2012 Magarey Medal for Biography, awarded by the Australian Historical Association.

Available in Australia from Australian Scholarly Publishing

Price: $ 59.95 other currencies Order nr. 108954

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See More... 19  Wolfe, Heather (editor) THE TREVELYON MISCELLANY OF 1608: A FACSIMILE OF FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY MS V.B.232
Washington, DC Folger Shakespeare Library 2007 10.75 x 17 inches hardcover, dust jacket 594 pages
The Trevelyon Miscellany of 1608 is one of the Folger Shakespeare Library's greatest treasures. Aside from Shakespeare's First Folio, it is the only book in the Folger collection to have an entire exhibition devoted to it, in 2004. Its 594 oversized pages depict life in Shakespeare's England in all of its brilliant complexities-from the mythical to the mundane, poetical to practical, religious to secular.

Thomas Trevelyon, the compiler, was a skilled scribe and pattern-maker who had access to a stunning variety of English and Continental woodcuts, engravings, broadsides, almanacs, chronicles, and emblem books, which he transformed from small monochrome images into large and colorful feasts for the eyes. Ostensibly created for the entertainment, education, and edification of his friends and family, Trevelyon's miscellany is a lifetime achievement that continues to delight and mystify modern audiences, with its familiar scenes of domesticity and husbandry intertwined with epic Protestant and political epitomes: accounts of the rulers of England and the Gunpowder Plot, descriptions of local fairs, the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge and astronomy according to Ptolemy, illustrations of the nine muses and the seven deadly sins, of Old Testament history and household proverbs, and whimsical flowers, alphabets, and embroidery patterns.

This massive volume, full of beautiful illustrations, provides an exciting and unparalleled snapshot of the passions, concerns, and everyday interests of a highly talented London commoner and for this reason is of significant scholarly and general interest. It is a monumental work that was intended to be both studied and enjoyed, its pages turned and savored. For the first time since its arrival at the Folger in 1945, a generous gift from Lessing Rosenwald, this is possible thanks to state-of-the-art conservation and high resolution digitization by Luna Imaging. The Trevelyon Miscellany of 1608 was published in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Home to the world's largest Shakespeare collection and a primary repository for research material from the early modern period (1500-1750), the Folger Shakespeare Library is an internationally recognized research library offering advanced scholarly programs in the humanities; a national leader in how Shakespeare is taught in grades K-12; and an award-winning producer of cultural and arts programs-theater, music, poetry, exhibits, lectures, and family programs.

Price: $ 295.00 other currencies Order nr. 108908

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See More... 20  Wolfe, Heather (editor) THE TREVELYON MISCELLANY OF 1608: AN INTRODUCTION TO FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY MS V.B.232.
Washington, DC Folger Shakespeare Library 2007 10.75 x 17 inches paperback 60 pages
The Trevelyon Miscellany of 1608 is one of the Folger Shakespeare Library's greatest treasures. Aside from Shakespeare's First Folio, it is the only book in the Folger collection to have an entire exhibition devoted to it, in 2004. As the introduction, the paperback version of The Trevelyon Miscellany of 1608 provides only the first 60 pages of the oversized publication, depicting life in Shakespeare's England and all of its brilliant complexities-from the mythical to the mundane, poetical to practical, religious to secular.

Thomas Trevelyon, the compiler, was a skilled scribe and pattern-maker who had access to a stunning variety of English and Continental woodcuts, engravings, broadsides, almanacs, chronicles, and emblem books, which he transformed from small monochrome images into large and colorful feasts for the eyes. Ostensibly created for the entertainment, education, and edification of his friends and family, Trevelyon's miscellany is a lifetime achievement that continues to delight and mystify modern audiences, with its familiar scenes of domesticity and husbandry intertwined with epic Protestant and political epitomes: accounts of the rulers of England and the Gunpowder Plot, descriptions of local fairs, the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge and astronomy according to Ptolemy, illustrations of the nine muses and the seven deadly sins, of Old Testament history and household proverbs, and whimsical flowers, alphabets, and embroidery patterns.

Home to the world's largest Shakespeare collection and a primary repository for research material from the early modern period (1500-1750), the Folger Shakespeare Library is an internationally recognized research library offering advanced scholarly programs in the humanities; a national leader in how Shakespeare is taught in grades K-12; and an award-winning producer of cultural and arts programs-theater, music, poetry, exhibits, lectures, and family programs.

Price: $ 35.00 other currencies Order nr. 108907

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See More... 21  Nyburg, Anna FROM LEIPZIG TO LONDON: THE LIFE AND WORK OF THE ÉMIGRÉ ARTIST HELLMUTH WEISSENBORN.
New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press 2012 6 x 9 inches hardcover, dust jacket 192 pages
German-born artist Hellmuth Weissenborn (1898-1982) spent the first half of his life in his native Leipzig and the second in London. He was forced to flee his homeland in early 1939 in the face of Nazi terror and found refuge in Britain. Unlike many of his fellow refugees, he never lost his sense of German heritage. In this biography, the cultural baggage that he brought with him is explored: life in Weimar Germany, especially in the book arts, is the cultural context of his early life.

After his conscription into service in World War I he returned home with diaries and sketchbooks and enrolled at the world-famous Leipzig Academy of Graphic and Book Arts, studying art, typography, and printmaking. Artistic success came early, and soon he moved up into the staff, becoming one of the Academy's youngest professors. When the Nazis took power, he lost his post for marrying a Jewish woman and was forced to leave Germany.

In Britain, the 40-year-old Weissenborn struggled to find work, and was interned for six months on the Isle of Man in 1940. This resulted in an intensively productive artistic output but also led to the end of his first marriage. On release he embarked on a new phase in his career as printmaker, teacher, and publisher. His second marriage proved to be a creative partnership: he and his wife ran the Acorn Press together.

New unpublished material in the form of Weissenborn's World War I diary, letters from his first wife, and interviews with his former students and colleagues help to give an impression of the man and his life in this first full biography of the artist. Family photographs that survived his exile underpin the narrative of his life, while his versatile artistic output is reflected in the many illustrations.

Anna Nyburg is a lecturer in German at Imperial College London. She completed an MA in 1974 at the University of East Anglia in European Literature, and in 2009 she was awarded a PhD in Exile Studies at the University of London, the subject of which was the German-speaking refugees from Nazism to Britain who either created art publishing companies, or who made contributions as book artists, typographers, or designers.

Price: $ 29.95 other currencies Order nr. 109140

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See More... 22  (Virgil) Kallendorf, Craig W. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE EARLY PRINTED EDITIONS OF VIRGIL, 1469-1850.
New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press 2012 8.5 x 11 inches hardcover 384 pages
This book serves as a short-title catalogue of all the early printed editions of the Roman poet Virgil, from the first edition in 1469 up to and including books published in 1850. Virgil's three major poems, the Eclogues, the Georgics, and the Aeneid, have stood at the center of western civilization throughout the early modern and modern periods. As such they were reprinted, individually and together, throughout Europe and the Americas. This bibliography offers the first complete record of the diffusion of these seminal works.

Almost five thousand books, including editions in the original Latin and in translation, are entered into the bibliography. The entries rest on direct observation of books in two large, discrete Virgil collections, along with material gathered from twenty-eight databases and specialized bibliographies and from individual libraries throughout the world. This bibliography is three times the size of its predecessor, Giuliano Mambelli's now over fifty year old Gli annali delle edizioni virgiliani, filling out and correcting the record in ways that have only become possible in the computer age.

Each entry contains information on the printer and place of publication, the names of any translators, editors, and commentators, and an indication of where a copy of the book may be found. An index of names allows cultural historians to connect Virgil to the scholarly activities of succeeding generations, while indices of printers and places of publication serve the needs of printing historians.

Craig Kallendorf received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina and is Professor of English and Classics at Texas A&M University. His recent books include The Other Virgil: Subversive Readings of the Aeneid in Early Modern Culture (Oxford University Press, 2007) and bibliographies of early Italian printed editions of Virgil and of the Aldine collection at the University of Texas. For Oak Knoll Press he has co-edited The Books of Venice / Il libro veneziano (2009) and written A Catalogue of the Junius Spencer Morgan Collection of Virgil in the Princeton University Library (2010).

Price: $ 95.00 other currencies Order nr. 106177

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See More... 23  Pettas, William A. THE GIUNTI OF FLORENCE: A RENAISSANCE PRINTING AND PUBLISHING FAMILY.
A History of the Florentine Firm and a Catalogue of the Editions New Castle, Delaware Oak Knoll Press 2012 8.5 x 11 inches hardcover 1096 pages
This ambitious project explores in detail the history and output of the Giunti Press in Florence, covering the firm from its beginnings in 1497 to its end in 1625, and providing descriptions of each Giunti book published with extensive indication of the libraries holding copies of each edition. In doing so, it addresses issues of censorship, the development of the Italian language from Florentine dialect, and the larger literature and history of Florence in the late Renaissance.

Printer and publisher Aldus Manutius, founder of Aldine Press, is well known among students of Renaissance Italian literature and history. Less has been published on the Guinti, however, a family whose members established operations over much larger territory than the Aldine press, collectively achieving much greater financial resources and surviving for a longer period of time. Their role in the history of Italian literature was significant and deserves an extensive review. The aim, then, of the present history is to tell the story of this late Renaissance Florentine printer-publisher.

Part I of the book covers all aspects of the Giunti family and the press, the nature of its output, its relationship to the governments of Florence and Tuscany, to social conditions, to the economy, to members of their own family, to their editors, and to the strictures of censorship. Names of Greek authors and editors in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries have been cited in a transliteration of the Greek rather than the usual Western form, and libraries holding Florentine Giunti editions have been listed by country. The catalogue in Part II provides a basic description of all known editions, as well as some unsigned editions that others have attributed to the Giunti, seeking to identify as many surviving exemplars as possible. In addition, the book provides Giunti images, genealogical tables, a chronological list of editions by language, and a list of works cited.

Dr. William Pettas is a native of Buffalo, NY, and has had a long career in public and academic library administration. His research has focused on the Giunti family of Florence, and he has published extensively on their firms in Florence, Rome, Venice, Lyon, Burgos, Salamanca, and Madrid. In researching this book, he has traveled extensively to libraries with rare book collections in the US, England, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, and Greece.

Price: $ 195.00 other currencies Order nr. 105520

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See More... 24  Lane, John A. THE DIASPORA OF ARMENIAN PRINTING, 1512-2012.
Translated by Anna Maria Martirosjan-Mattaar Amsterdam Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam 2012 6.75 x 9.5 inches paperback 224 pages
In 1512, in the city of Venice, Hakob Meghapart printed the first book in Armenian type. He inaugurated a tradition celebrated in 2012 as 'Five Centuries of Armenian Printing'. The Diaspora of Armenian Printing 1512-2012, published by the Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam, commemorates the printers, their books and their printing types. This is the first international publication in English and Armenian on the history of Armenian printing.

For technical and political reasons, all Armenian books were printed outside Armenia until 1771. The art of Armenian printing developed in major centres like Venice, Constantinople and Amsterdam, but also in many others around the world. Its history moves along highways and byways reflecting the ups and downs of the Armenian people. The book describes the diaspora of Armenian printing, highlighting the role of Amsterdam. It takes the reader on a typographic odyssey through time and space.

John A. Lane (1955) is a historian of printing and printing types. He was born and raised in the United States and has lived in Leiden (Holland) since 1990. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for his typographic research in 2006 and has published many books and articles.

Available in Europe from the Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam.

Price: $ 49.95 other currencies Order nr. 109505

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See More... 25  Myers, Robin, Michael Harris and Giles Mandelbrote (editors) PUBLISHING THE FINE AND APPLIED ARTS 1500-2000
New Castle, Delaware and London Oak Knoll Press and The British Library 2012 6 x 9 inches hardcover, dust jacket 224 pages
Next in the Publishing Pathways series, Publishing the Fine and Applied Arts examines aspects of the relationship between the business of print and the practice of art and design across five centuries. Leading specialists explore the role played by the book trade in the diffusion of artistic and architectural theory, fashion, and practice. Other essays trace the impact of aesthetic trends and advances in the techniques of binding, color printing, and illustration on the appearance of books themselves. Among the topics discussed are the printed sources for decorative motifs in sixteenth-century churches, the publication history of the works of Andrea Palladio, and the evolution of drawing manuals in seventeenth-century England. Other subjects include the library formed by the architect Sir John Soane, developments in nineteenth-century art publishing, and the role of printed catalogues in documenting the acquisitions made by English collectors of paintings, sculpture, and antiquities. Essays are from Mirjam Foot, Malcolm Jones, Charles Hind, Meghan Doherty, Susan Palmer, Abraham Thomas, Rowan Watson, and Charles Sebag-Montefiore. The book is illustrated in color and black-and-white.

Available in the UK from The British Library.

Price: $ 55.00 other currencies Order nr. 104084

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