THE FIRST [and SECOND] PART OF THE HISTORY OF THE VALOROUS AND WITTIE KNIGHT-ERRRANT DON QUIXOTE OF THE MANCHA

Item Details

Chelsea, Ashendene Press, 1927, full original dark green morocco by the W.H. Smith bindery (signed on lower turn-ins), five raised bands, gilt lettering on spine

limited to 225 copies, Very Good

 

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Printed in an edition limited to 225 copies (Ashendene no.36; Ransom 39; Franklin p.57, 196, Tomkinson p.8 of Ashendene section). There were 20 copies printed on vellum. Small bookseller's ticket of Philip C. Duschnes on the rear pastedown. Minor fading to the spine of Part I. Very minor rubbing along the hinges of both volumes. Very minor shelfwear. Overall a lovely set. 

Set in (new) Ptolemy types and finely printed on Batchelor hand made paper in red and black in two columns. This is the first use of the Ashendene Ptolemy type, and, as such, it represents a new direction for the press in its final years of activity. In Franklins eyes, Emery Walker's new typeface, derived from the font used for the 1482 Ptolemy printed in Ulm, was "a much lighter, more elegant letter than the earlier fount," the denser Subiaco. "And with the use of this less dictatorial typeface, the printer could cast away a little of his restraint in planning whatever lay outside it. So in Don Quixote we find at last an alphabet of open and freely drawn decorative initial letters, designed by Louise Powell and shadowing something of Kelmscott Press taste from years before." The Ptolemy face was used just three more times before the Ashendene Press closed.

Includes decorated initials and borders by Louise Powell who was an early student of Edward Johnston. The blocks were then cut by W.M. Quick & Geo. H. Ford. The first page of each book is embellished with elaborate engraved marginal decorations. Considered by many to be the preferred book of the Ashendene large folios, and constitutes the longest Ashendene publication while also being the most expensive one to produce.

 

Chelsea: Ashendene Press, 1927; folio, full original dark green morocco by the W.H. Smith bindery (signed on lower turn-ins), five raised bands, gilt lettering on spine; (xiii), 268; (x), 257 pages. Book # 46729

 

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