Sign up to receive email notices of recent acquisitions.

Blumenthal, Joseph.

[WITH LETTERS] Art of the Printed Book : 1455-1955 : Masterpieces of Typography Through Five Centuries From the Collections of the Pierpont Morgan Library.

New York: The Pierpont Morgan Library, 1974. Hardcover with dj. 4to ( 12.5” x 9”), gilt-stamped black cloth. xiii, 192 pp. includes four autograph letters signed and one a.n.s. CONDITION: Near fine, light wear to extremities of dj.

First edition of a popular book by fine-press historian and printer, Joseph Blumenthal. Includes letters from Blumenthal to Wyman Parker, a collector of fine-press books, arranging a meeting with a lauded typographer. 

Blumenthal’s letters and note trace his attempts to invite the Parkers over for an “informal luncheon" so that they can meet John Dreyfus, historian of books and designer for Cambridge University Press. Letters from August 28th and September 26th, 1975, indicate the difficulty of organizing a meeting with Parker, who at first seems unreceptive. But Blumenthal’s letter from October 3rd, 1975, indicates that Parker had a change of heart and agreed to come to Blumenthal’s luncheon. This letter shows Blumenthal's delight and provides instructions to get to his house and tells him about his other guests, “Leslie Katz of Eakins Press and his poet wife Jane Mayhall.” The fourth letter, undated, provides Parker with a hand-drawn map showing Blumenthal’s house vis-à-vis his surroundings. The undated note further indicates Blumenthal’s happiness at Parker’s “friendly note.

Item #8179

Price: $150.00

Add to Wish List