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SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS.
(Los Angeles: Saul & Lillian Marks at the Plantin Press, 1974). 210 x 148 mm. (8 1/4 x 5 7/8"). 2 p.l., 154 pp., [2] leaves. No. 86 OF 120 COPIES.
Original tan morocco-backed patterned paper boards by Max J. Adjarian of Malibu, California (binder's ticket on pastedown), raised bands, gilt lettering to spine, edges untrimmed. Title page with elaborate woodcut frame, woodcut frontispiece, and printer's compass device in colophon. Front pastedown with the "E. H. H." book label of E. Harold Hugo (with "N. E. H.," for Nancy E. Hugo, pencilled beneath the monogram - see below) and with separate book label of Nancy HUgo . See Harmsen, The Plantin Press of Saul and Lilian Marks, p. 20. A pristine copy.
This fine press edition of Shakespeare's sonnets features exquisite typography and striking woodcuts. The Plantin Press was founded by Saul and Lillian Marks in 1931. Saul (1904-74) had trained as a printer in Poland before coming to the United States in 1921, and after a decade of setting type around the country, he settled with his new bride in Los Angeles, where they founded a press dedicated to simple, high-quality hand printing. Lillian continued the press after her husband's death, closing in 1985, after issuing approximately 150 books in addition to ephemeral pieces. Their work is considered to be among the highest quality of the American fine presses of the 20th century, with intentionally limited productions enabling the Markses to meticulously control every detail. Librarian, bibliophile, and printer Tyrus G. Harmson wrote of the press that "the twin hallmarks of the shop, to borrow a phrase from John Carter, are taste and technique." The present work, funded by booksellers Jacob Israel Zeitlin and Josephine Ver Brugge, was set in Alfred Fairbanks' Narrow Bembo italic on thick, creamy paper, and is decorated with the highly detailed woodcuts of Mary Kuper. Our binder Max J. Adjarian (1929-2002) was a master book restorer who came from France to Cornell University in the early 1950s, then lived and worked in Kansas before moving to California. His binding tools and papers are now in the Special Collections of the University of California at Riverside. Our copy is from the library of scholar-printer E. Harold Hugo (1910-85) and his daughter Nancy. Hugo ran the Meriden Gravure Company from 1962-75 and sat on the board of the Stinehour Press from the time of its founding. He was known throughout his career as an advocate for fine printing, leading to numerous awards for himself and his company. (ST21199-1)
Price: $2,500.00