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Lot 60
GRABHORN PRESS. MANDEVILLE, SIR JOHN. The Voiage and Travaile of Sir John Maundeville, KT. New York: Printed by the Grabhorn Press, San Francisco, for Random House, 1928
11 December 2020, 10:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$2,040 inc. premium
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GRABHORN PRESS.
MANDEVILLE, SIR JOHN. The Voiage and Travaile of Sir John Maundeville, KT. New York: Printed by the Grabhorn Press, San Francisco, for Random House, 1928
4to. Paragraph marks in red or blue, 32 woodcuts in the text, and 34 large hand-illuminated initials in red, blue, and gold by Valenti Angelo. Publisher's Philippine mahogany boards backed with brown Niger morocco by William Wheeler, raised bands, spine with titling in blind, "TKD" embossed in blank on the portion of the spine leather extending onto the front board. One page with faint paint residue in the margin, otherwise very fine.
LIMITED EDITION, number 104 of 150 copies. Attractively bound, printed, and illuminated edition of a famous Medieval travel book — one of the finest productions of the Grabhorn Press. This book marked the first use in America of the Bibel Gotisch type designed and cut by Rudolf Koch, and Heller & Magee observes that the work "was an ideal subject for this type and for the simple medieval illustrations of Valenti Angelo that accompany it" (not to mention the 5,100 initials Angelo illuminated by hand in the 150 copies!). The Press had intended to offer the work for direct sale, but the entire run was purchased by Bennett Cerf (who saw the proofs on a visit to San Francisco) for issuance under the Random House imprint. First appearing as an anonymous French manuscript in about 1357, Mandeville's account exists in many forms: there are at least 22 versions known from some 250 surviving manuscripts, and the work was printed at least 20 times in the 15th century. The Grabhorn edition is based on a 1725 English printing. The woodcuts are based on illustrations in other early printed editions. The Grabhorn Press bibliography tells us that of this edition, "a few copies exist with the illustrations hand-colored. These were done for experimental purposes and were not for sale." While the illustrations in this copy are, in fact, carefully hand colored, it is possible this enhancement was the work of a later owner. It is also possible that this is a specially colored copy for "TKD," who may have been someone important to the Press, but whose identity is unknown to us.
Heller & Magee 107.
4to. Paragraph marks in red or blue, 32 woodcuts in the text, and 34 large hand-illuminated initials in red, blue, and gold by Valenti Angelo. Publisher's Philippine mahogany boards backed with brown Niger morocco by William Wheeler, raised bands, spine with titling in blind, "TKD" embossed in blank on the portion of the spine leather extending onto the front board. One page with faint paint residue in the margin, otherwise very fine.
LIMITED EDITION, number 104 of 150 copies. Attractively bound, printed, and illuminated edition of a famous Medieval travel book — one of the finest productions of the Grabhorn Press. This book marked the first use in America of the Bibel Gotisch type designed and cut by Rudolf Koch, and Heller & Magee observes that the work "was an ideal subject for this type and for the simple medieval illustrations of Valenti Angelo that accompany it" (not to mention the 5,100 initials Angelo illuminated by hand in the 150 copies!). The Press had intended to offer the work for direct sale, but the entire run was purchased by Bennett Cerf (who saw the proofs on a visit to San Francisco) for issuance under the Random House imprint. First appearing as an anonymous French manuscript in about 1357, Mandeville's account exists in many forms: there are at least 22 versions known from some 250 surviving manuscripts, and the work was printed at least 20 times in the 15th century. The Grabhorn edition is based on a 1725 English printing. The woodcuts are based on illustrations in other early printed editions. The Grabhorn Press bibliography tells us that of this edition, "a few copies exist with the illustrations hand-colored. These were done for experimental purposes and were not for sale." While the illustrations in this copy are, in fact, carefully hand colored, it is possible this enhancement was the work of a later owner. It is also possible that this is a specially colored copy for "TKD," who may have been someone important to the Press, but whose identity is unknown to us.
Heller & Magee 107.