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AMERICAN SHEAVES & ENGLISH SEED CORN.
([London]: Essex House Press, 1901). 218 x 155 mm. (8 1/2 x 6 1/8"). [vi], 134 pp., [1] leaf (limitation). No. 232 OF 300 COPIES.
Publisher's stiff vellum with yapp edges, gilt titling on spine, LEAVES UNOPENED. Printed in black and red, with a few large floral initials. Errata leaf tipped-in before title, advertisement for other works by Ashbee (this leaf a bit foxed) and a blank piece of stationary from "43 Heath Hurst Road" laid in. Tomkinson, p. 72. Vellum tending to splay (as almost always), but the binding and text virtually pristine.
This is a remarkable copy of a work containing lectures delivered in various large American cities on behalf of the National Trust, addresses which helped to inspire the formation of a sister organization in the United States. C. R. Ashbee founded the Essex House Press in 1898 by purchasing the presses and other production equipment (though not the type) formerly owned by the Kelmscott Press, which had shut down at the death of William Morris. Essex House books were printed for 12 years, with vellum, ink, and paper identical to that used by Kelmscott, in an effort to carry on the tradition Morris had established. But the Essex House Press, because it was conceived of and continued as part of a larger enterprise involving various artisans at work in a group of workshops, always had its own special identity, a fact which Cave reflects when he calls it the "Arts and Crafts 'par excellence.'" Our unopened copy is virtually as it was when issued at the press, with obviously no opportunity to incur internal signs of use. (ST20234-19)
Price: $500.00