First edition. Some soiling to the jacket, else near fine.

A substantial collection of Updike's essays, lectures, and ephemeral writings on the arts of the book, excluding Printing Types (1922), edited, introduced, and annotated by William S. Peterson, author of A Bibliography of the Kelmscott Press (1984) and other books. A few of these 41 articles were reprinted in In the Day's Work (1924) and Some Aspects of Printing Old and New (1941), but most remained unpublished or buried in obscure periodicals and pamphlets until assembled by the editor. D.B. Updike (1860-1941), founder of the Merrymount Press in Boston, was one of the most influential printers and book designers of the twentieth century, as well as a skilled writer who expressed his views with exceptional clarity and wit. Thirty-one full-page illustrations, many in two colors. Printed on Cougar Opaque Natural paper in an exact digital replica of Caslon Old Face, the type most often associated with Updike, as well as margins and spacing between words and lines that are approximately what he himself used. This copy is signed by the editor / designer on the colophon page. Related ephemera loosely inserted. From the Thomas M. Whitehead Collection of Books About Books.