Fine Press Shelfies

It has been a while since we have seen any collection photos. I have an idea about how to do shelfies that are a bit more engaging than just, here: look at my stuff.

I propose the following guidelines, which you can follow or not depending on how civil and agreeable you feel at the moment (I'm not your dad).

1. One shelf, not a whole bookcase, focused on some theme or organizing principle. One shelf makes it easier to see details and also facilitates thinking like a curator.
2. One photo per comment. Make it count. Posting additional comments is fine, but...
3. Wait a day or two before posting another, so we get some nice variety in browsing. Or at least wait until a few others have posted in the interim.
4. No discussions or arguments about what constitutes fine press! Each comment author gets to decide. But if the majority of the titles on your shelfie weren't printed using some relief method, maybe consider your life choices.
5. Annotate or not as per your whim. It's likely we will discover some new titles to add to our wishlists based on this exercise given the variety of interesting member collections.

Here is some template HTML code that will hopefully make posting easier. Just replace the IMGURL text within the link to your image file (this should be a file type such as jpg or png; if it ends in "html" that is probably not what you want).

<img src="IMGURL" width=600 >

If you're looking for a good image host, my current favorite remains postimg.cc

And, to get us started, here's one of mine, theme is poetry.

For some organized chaos, enjoy my shelf of un-shelfable books (yes, there are still some I haven't figured out how to fit in)

Since I just mentioned Pinocchio in another thread, here’s my Tallone foreign-language section, which exemplifies both my reluctance to cut new Brodart and my fear of cleaning vellum.

>3 NathanOv: Well, I see the Red Angel Press, how is the Two Pond Press Island Whale? I have just one from that press that I like but it's a very different book than this one in terms of approach (more about the text and less about the artistic features).

>5 LBShoreBook: I would say it’s very much an artist’s book / object, but one with fine press production values and plenty of text to read which is key for me.

I think the design concept was prioritized too much over readability, at least in the main section of the book, but the text is a truly fascinating compilation with scholarly merit.

>2 abysswalker: What Rilke is that?

>7 Nightcrawl: Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, Limited Editions Club, 1981

All the Folio Society's giant limited editions plus the Rotz Atlas from the Roxburghe Club.

Some oversize books, up top of the bookcases.

>10 Chemren: Oh, impressive stuff! I still need to buy my first Ashendene book and want it to be illustrated, so there aren't many options. Tutte le Opere de Dante Alighieri Fiorentino perhaps? 😄 Le Morte d'Arthur is more realistic though.

>11 Lukas1990: Or Daphnis et Chloe. Some nice woodcuts by Gwen Raverat interspersed throughout that one.

Some nice shelves here!

This is mine for tall books on ancient and medieval stuff:

>11 Lukas1990: I am definitely missing the Ashendene D'Arthur on my shelf!

>13 SebRinelli: I didn't realise The Odyssey is THAT thick. Also, I need that Cupid & Psyche (the regular version). I own the Dialogues of Creatures but it is a bit damaged - I am still waiting for a specialist to repair it.

>15 Lukas1990: no, you’re right. It’s a custom made solander to preserve the near fine binding

>13 SebRinelli: I would just like to say that that is a beautiful copy of the Mabinogion… Hoping that someone could make a facsimile at some point in the future

>9 wcarter: Is the red slipcase next to "Holy Land" part of that set?

18: No. I think that is Music for King Henry, another Folio oldie.

Apologies for the sub-standard photo. Some of my smaller, thinner books in no particular order. I have more, but they are not on a shelf, but in archival enclosures.



In case you're wondering, the three black ones on the far left are LECs: Book of Psalms, Vathek and the Rubaiyat. The black one to the left of "The Prince of Peace" is Diary of the Delphic Oracle from La Ginestra, a superb book. And the one on the far right which got partly cut off is a Calliopea Press book, A Tear in the Eye of the Eagle.

>19 supercell: Oh. Thank you.

Here are some of my favourites (as I've admitted elsewhere, I tend to shelve my most favourite books together - easier to stare at them all lovingly, or grab them in case of fire).

>18 PartTimeBookAddict:
>19 supercell: is right, it is Music for King Henry.
See https://www.librarything.com/topic/349609

>23 wcarter: Thanks. It looks like it could be an additional map set.

The main categories on this shelf are smaller Golden Cockerel books on the left, a few Letterpress Shakespeare, and a number of Whittington Press books (shelved spine-inwards on the right; sorry, I know that makes the picture boring).

A few other objects of potential note are
(1) my only Nonesuch Press edition—Florio's Montaigne;
(2) my copy of Nomad Letterpress' Coastline, an all-time favourite, and their 2020 Vision;
(3) two treasured Gibbings books—Glory of Life and XIV Engravings on Wood;
and (4) Weeds and Wild Flowers from Two-Horse Press.

>20 Glacierman: is that the pennyroyal Salome on the right?

>26 filox: No, nothing that fancy, I fear. 'Tis but the lowly Heritage Press edition.

There are several No Reply titles, a Petrarch Press book, and several from Sutton Hoo along with those from lesser known presses, etc. And one Cummington Press book.

Trying the instructions for the first time--fingers crossed!

This is a shelf with the fine press books that fit on it--keeping some of the Heavenly Monkey together (but others are too big!).

>28 Flaubie: lovely! Which edition is that Book of Ruth?

>29 abysswalker: Thank you! Ruth is the 1896 Dent edition, with illustrations by William Brown MacDougall. The binding is by Miss C.A.L. MacRae.

A Century for the Century shelf. Apologies for the terrible photo. I will have my artist daughter take subsequent shots.

https://i.postimg.cc/858V6vCM/Century-for-the-Century-shelfie.jpg


Top (horizontal):
Keynes, Geoffrey - "William Blake's Water-Colour Designs for the Poems of Thomas Gray", Trianon Press (1972) - 3 vols

Left to right:
Bowning, Robert - "Men and Women", Doves Press (1908) - 2 vols
Shakespeare, William - "Hamlet", Cranach Press (1930)
Bible - "Cantique des Cantiques de Salomon", Cranach Press (1931)
Homer - "The Iliad", Limited Editions Club (1931)
Homer - "The Odyssey", Limited Editions Club (1931)
Homer - "The Odyssey", Emery Walker, Wilfred Merton and Bruce Rogers (1932)
Hornby, C. H. St. John - "Ashendene Press Bibliography", Ashendene Press (1935)
Joinville, Jean de - "The History of Saint Louis", Gregynog Press (1937)
Hunter, Dard - "Papermaking by Hand in America", Mountain House Press (1950)
Ovid - "Metamorphoses", Limited Editions Club (1958)
Catullus - "Poems", Abattoir Editions (1979)
Merwin, W. S. (tr) - "Robert the Devil", Windhover Press (1981)
Allen, Lewis and Dorothy - "The Allen Press Bibliography", Allen Press (1981)
Hamady, Walter - "Papermaking By Hand", Perishable Press (1982)
Butcher, David - "The Stanbrook Abbey Press, 1956-1990", Whittington Press (1992)

Two of my favorite presses on one shelf. I buy a fair amount of their output and always look forward to their next announcements.



Tudor Black Press and No Reply Press

I always store my books resting horizontally rather than vertically. I know nothing is perfect, but there absolutely is more pressure placed on the bottom of a book than the top when vertical. BUT, again I know there's a lot of factors involved, so I'm not judging anyone, I do think vertically is more convenient :)

>33 astropi: That also saves the neck from craning to find titles! I do it too.

>33 astropi: What do you reckon the pressure is on the bottom book of a horizontal stack relative to the pressure on the bottom of each book in a vertical stack. 🤔

>35 LBShoreBook: The text block is always torquing the spine forward at the top, and the spine reinforcement piece is always finding the flat with the boards, often crushing a little. Horizontally, elements are achieving stasis, and the boards and paper, always moving with the change in humidity are aided by gravity, rather than by the uneven tension of the bookend on a shelf. Dust accrues, if it does, on the top piece only, and not embedding itself in the pages which are hard to clean. These are the reasons I store all my inventory horizontally.

While I see definite advantages to storing books horizontally, it seems to me that they would have to be of the same surface area, or nearly so, within the same stack. Otherwise the accumulative pressure of smaller books on a larger one might cause bowing or concavity in the lower volumes. Perhaps the amount is trivial in small enough stacks, however.

I believe that if books are firmly (not tightly) packed on a shelf, vertical is fine, even with big books, as pressure from adjacent books support the others.
And who amongst us has loosely packed shelves?

>33 astropi: let's have some horizontal pics!

It's also traditional in East Asia to store books in stacks horizontally.

In terms of preservation standards, vertical shelving with good bindings and reasonably close shelving seems to be fine, as is the practice in most rare book libraries and famous historical libraries such as the Samuel Pepys library.

>10 Chemren: Is that a custom box for the Valenti Angelo book? I've never seen a box/slipcase with that volume (assuming it's the 1976 BCC edition).

>40 kronnevik: It is the BCC edition in a custom box.

>10 Chemren: Nice, you've got some beautiful books. Which edition of Thucydides is that? Also am interested in the binding variant for the Ashendene Don Quixote. And how do like your OUP "John Fell"?

>42 Sport1963: the size and proximity to other Ashendene titles leads me to guess Ashendene, in a custom solander. Let's see if I am correct!

>43 abysswalker: You are correct. It is the Ashendene Thucydides.

Re: Quixote bindings - the bibliography states that the 200 paper copies were offered at 14 guineas for full pigskin binding and 10 guineas for linen spine and paper boards. It does not say how many of each were bound up. Mine is the linen spine.

John Fell: I was surprised at how big this thing was when I received it. Evidently, Stanley Morison was researching the material for this book, off and on, for much of his life, and unfortunately he passed away the day before it was released. The first half of the book is about Fell himself and the second half about the types. I found the first half more interesting than the second half, but both held my interest. The book is one of the more reasonably priced Century for a Century volumes.

Here's a more diverse shelf of presses, including quite a few with blank outward facing spines. See if you recognise any.



Presses represented include Old Stile, Incline, Sutton Hoo, No Reply, and Corvus Works.

>45 Shadekeep: Nice to see the English Aesop from Prelo in there!

>45 Shadekeep: which edition of Seneca is that?

>45 Shadekeep: I see La Ginestra's Diary of the Delphic Oracle immediately to the left of Ramsey Campbell's Decorations (Alpenhouse Apparitions/Chad Oness). And Philip Levine's Naming (Sutton Hoo Press) to the left of From the Almanack, 1726. And next to Naming (on the left) is Sweet Geometry by Pamela McClure from Sutton Hoo.

That's all I can ID.

Nice shelf!

>47 abysswalker: It’s the Dana Gioia text published by Aralia Press. A very fine edition!

Here’s a somewhat eclectic shelf:

>50 kermaier: Almost eclectic enough to hide that Chester River Heart of Darkness! What's the other Conrad title if you don't mind me asking?

>51 NathanOv: that one I recognize; The Secret Sharer (LEC).

>52 abysswalker: Correct!
Can anyone guess the 3 books without spine labels? :-)

Hint: 1 story and 2 slim volumes of poetry, all published within the past 5 years.

Well, as instructed, I have waited a few days, and here is another shelf. Random titles, with many different publishers, and totally different to my first post here.

A shelf with mid-size books more or less in order of their publication

I’m loving these shelfies!!

>46 ChestnutPress: >48 Glacierman: Well spotted, gents! As I expected from you both.

>50 kermaier: Great stuff, lots of top-notch No Reply in the mix there as well as other choice titles. What edition of Poe's Masque is that with the cream cover under clear wrap?

I wanted to add my own shelfie here, but looking online it seems that various image hosting websites are a bit dubious to use. Instead, if any of you are interested, I added my shelfie as my profile pic. The only common thread for the books there is that they are larger volumes that don’t fit my other shelves.

>58 ChestnutPress: You can use the Gallery here to host your images. Just upload them like you did with this one and then link them in the post, like so:

<img src="https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/d7/9d/d79dfd24ba06728636d573737674377424c4145_v5.jpg" width="600"/>



Choice titles, by the way! Coveting that Weeds and Wild Flowers from Two-Horse Press especially.

EDIT: And if you want to make the image clickable so that folks can see the original at full size, wrap the img tag in an a (anchor) tag, like so:

<a href="https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/d7/9d/d79dfd24ba06728636d573737674377424c4145_v5.jpg"><img src="https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/d7/9d/d79dfd24ba06728636d573737674377424c4145_v5.jpg" width="600"/></a>

The href value for the a tag should be the same URL as the src value for the img tag. It would be nice if there were a canned way of doing this on LT instead of resorting to HTML code, but there you go.

>59 Shadekeep: Oh quality! Cheers for the info! 👍🏻 Weeds and Wild Flowers is a very fine volume and well worth getting your hands on if funds allow. I do not regret splashing the money out on it!

Bit of a catch-all shelf with a few loose themes: Venice, music, birds, farming/gardening, Christmas, Sherlock Holmes, poetry, etc.

>58 ChestnutPress: The Psalms of David from Rampant Lion Press leaps out at me currently, having recently bought two copies in the last month. I bought one for myself and just today another arrived for a friend. It’s an unusual concept to be buying brand new books that are forty seven years old!

I would urge any collectors not owning this book to grab one whilst they are still available. In the UK the price is £200 delivered. Here is a short description;

The Psalms of David (1977)
Miles Coverdale’s translation, as used in the Book of Common Prayer. Hand-set in Eric Gill’s Golden Cockerel Roman – the first use of the type at the Rampant Lions Press – and printed on J Green mould-made paper. Bound by George Miller. 280 copies in quarter vellum with specially designed patterned paper boards, in an acetate wrapper.
152 pp. 34 x 23 cm. £200

Here is a link;

https://rampantlionspress.com/

Thanks
Paul

>62 paulm16: It’s a no-brainier of a book to buy, I reckon!

>61 kronnevik: Some very fine volumes, Mr Ronnevik! 👌🏻

>63 ChestnutPress: It feels like one of those rare things called a bargain.
Do you know what the original sale price was by any chance?

>65 paulm16: According to the RLP bibliography, the original price was £150 for standard copies and £225 for the specials bound in full vellum.

I always thought it was a pity that the original idea of a new edition of Eric Gill's Essay on Typography set in Golden Cockerel type was not pursued. Sebastian Carter's take on Gill would have been interesting.

The story is told briefly in the bibliography entry for The Psalms of David and at more length in the somewhat obscure Balancing Act

>55 SebRinelli: Nice! Custom box for the Allen Press Pushkin? Whose “The Lottery” is that?

>57 Shadekeep: it’s the Halcyon Press edition of Poe stories. This is the cover under the dust jacket:



Edit: With wood engravings by J. Buckland Wright :-)

>67 kermaier: That’s the Suntup numbered edition of “The Lottery.”

>67 kermaier:
>69 Nightcrawl: is right. My only Suntup, but a really nice one to have if one accepts digitally printed art in a fine press book.
The Pushkin is indeed in a custom solander. It‘s my favourite Allen Press book, even before Youth and the like.

>68 kermaier: Holy cow, JBW illustrations! This sucker is going on my search list, thanks kindly.

>71 Shadekeep: They’re strongly reminiscent of Blair Hughes-Stanton's illustrations in the Golden Hours Press “Dr Faustus” - i.e., great :-)

>61 kronnevik: I'm delighted to see the two Larkspur editions of Wendell Berry here. Can I ask for more information about the edition of Vegetable Gardening on the left of those beautiful books? I am also a proud owner of An Avian Alphabet, it's a wonderful book.

>73 jbrnewman:

Vegetable Gardening will be the nice little book by John Carey published by Rampant Lions in 1989.

>61 kronnevik:
I see the cloth binding of the Ascensius Press “North of Boston” — not many have a copy of that!

Which editions of the Sonnets are on the right? (One is an old FS with Valenti Angelo decorations?)

>73 jbrnewman: Vegetable Gardening is my favourite book from the Rampant Lions Press. A wonderfully entertaining essay illustrated with the most beautiful Clare Melinsky linocuts. It always pleases me to see it on a collector’s shelf as I think it a hugely underrated little gem of an edition.

>61 kronnevik: Is far left the Old School Press second edition of ‘Venice Approached’, then to the right of ‘Venice Visited (thank you again for finding me a copy!)… is it the Old School Press ‘An Italian Dream’ followed by the Targ Edition of ‘The Four Seasons’? If so, it’s nice to see that, among a few others there, we share a good few in common on our respective shelves!

>72 kermaier: Love his work. I have two of his collections put out by Fleece Press, so gorgeous. I wouldn't mind snagging that Dr Faustus either!

>74 affle: Hard to go wrong with Rampant Lions, superb work across the board. Amazing that some titles are still directly available from Sebastian (https://rampantlionspress.com/list-of-titles/). I quite like The Unknown Masterpiece among those on offer.

>74 affle: >76 ChestnutPress: Thank you both! I will look into that one.

>73 jbrnewman:
Others have informed you correctly regarding Vegetable Gardening. It's indeed a wonderful little book. I enjoy the Larkspur Berrys immensely. Those two are both specials. I have a few more (though by no means all the Berry titles) shelved with smaller books.

>75 kermaier:
IIRC there are only 15 or so cloth copies. That means it's much more valuable than the comparatively ubiquitous (26!) full leather copies, right? ;)

Sonnets L-R are: Acorn Press (1982), Thornwillow (half leather), Heritage Press (not FS, though you're right about Valenti Angelo)

>64 ChestnutPress: >77 ChestnutPress:
Thanks! and correct on all counts. The only Old School Press Venice-related title not there (excluding the first edition of Venice Approached) is Into the Lagoon which, because of its wrap's buttons, is shelved elsewhere. The Targ Four Seasons (one of the many books you introduced me to) is simply a delight--truly amongst a small group of favorites. I've performed the Seasons at least a dozen times since last fall and it's been fun to periodically dip into those pages.

>28 Flaubie:
Those H-Ms are droolworthy. I'd like to just see some of those editions in person.

My least colorful shelf: Full set of LEC Shakespeare and the similarly bound large paper edition of Bruce Rogers' Paragraphs on Printing.

>82 kronnevik: I count at least 14 editions we share, which is pretty good going. We either both have good taste or bad, but I reckon the former! 😁

>55 SebRinelli: Always good to see a copy of LECs ‘The Secret Sharer’ on a shelf. I think this book slides under the radar of a lot of collectors, but it’s a superb volume. And usually available for a great price. The very moving ‘Planting a Sequioa’ is also a great edition (not that any of those shown aren’t!). It’s a fine selection

>54 wcarter: Is the ‘Letters to my Father’ the edition printed by Evergreen Press?

>50 kermaier: There are some excellent volumes there, representing some great presses

>45 Shadekeep: Diverse and wonderful!

>31 Sport1963: Some beautiful editions there!

>22 EdmundRodriguez: That edition of The Man Who Planted Trees is one of my all-time top ten.

Some of my favourites in a horizontal stack...

>90 Dr.Fiddy: Original ‘An Albion in the Antarctic’ or facsimile?

>2 abysswalker: Gotta love a shelf of fine press poetry. Really nice to see one of the Florence Press editions in there. I love the Florence type and it’s a great pity it never got used elsewhere.

>4 ChampagneSVP: what’s a slightly short piece of Mylar between friends! 😁

>91 ChestnutPress: Facsimile. I was too late to get the original...

>94 Dr.Fiddy: Most people were way too late for the original. The facsimile is a superb alternative though, and I am very glad to own one

>95 ChestnutPress: I'm very glad to own one of these too. It's superb indeed; and it's so that I almost can't believe all the efforts you took to digitally re-set and adjust the text of this edition! 🙌

>90 Dr.Fiddy: variation on this theme.



The topmost two aren't so much shelved as temporarily resting.

>92 ChestnutPress: another Florence Press title lurking here.

>97 abysswalker: I see that St Francis of Assisi atop of Bacon’s Essays!

>97 abysswalker: what editions of hamlet and little flowers?

Some of Barbarian Press books printed between 1983 and 2017.

>97 abysswalker:
Sight of Ivan Ilyich and the overcoat on your shelf prompted me to expand and update my prior shelfie:



Ivan only arrived today, I've given it pride of place next to Sylvae on my shelf.

Some more beautiful shelves here 😍

>90 Dr.Fiddy: that‘s really nice cloth for the Gawain Solander. I need to get one made, too.

>84 ChestnutPress: Thanks. I will hopefully add more. Your Instagram is a great source of inspiration. Sadly, many of those editions you feature are hard to come by.

>61 kronnevik: Among the many beautiful books on you shelf I spot 49 Days. I‘ll be hopefully adding this one to my collection this year!

>101 EdmundRodriguez: Wow! Running Rings has been on my search list for quite some time - I had no idea it was that large though.

>90 Dr.Fiddy: Fantastic! Some of the best fine press books from recent years, full stop.

>100 vadim_ca: Impressive! Personally coveting the Inishbream from that lot.

>103 NathanOv: It's in a (bespoke) slipcase shelved inwards (so you're seeing the back of case), which adds quite a bit of thickness, it is tall though (almost 15 inches I think).

>99 PBB: The ‘Little Flowers…’ is the very nice Florence Press edition

>100 vadim_ca: That’s a great selection, and only the second time I have seen the ‘Barbarian’ edition of Blue Roofs of Japan. Saying that, it’s also the only other time I have seen the Spencer too!

LOL I can't figure out how to get image posted in thread, I can open in new tab clicking on the icon above. I guess I like books more than HTML.

>102 SebRinelli: Very glad my Instagram is of use (if sometimes frustrating when trying to obtain copies of what you see). The hunt is part of the allure of fine press and I think my feed at least helps people better see whether an item is something they would like to track down. And as for your comment on 49 Days shown in Kronnevik’s shelfie, I can only humbly urge you to grab a copy sooner rather than later. It’s a very special edition and Greenboathouse editions are notoriously difficult to find once out of print.

>103 NathanOv: Running Rings is certainly a big un! I hope you eventually find a copy as it is jaw-dropping and firmly puts Paul L Kershaw at the absolute forefront of creative letterpress that rather defies what can be done with the process

>100 vadim_ca: Ah, Vadim, you and I are indeed kindred spirits!

>99 PBB: the upper Hamlet is the 1978 Tallone, the lower is the 1920 Julius Schroeder with Sepp Frank illustrations.

More on the Tallone Hamlet here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/331303

>108 LBShoreBook: Is this what you were trying to post?

>110 ChestnutPress: Paul Kershaw’s Grapho Editions are some of my favorite books in my collection! Unfortunately, I missed Running Rings and The Amphibious Place before discovering his work and am yet to track down either.

>111 ChampagneSVP: Couldn't agree with you more - I was very confused there for a moment! LOL

That's a wonderful collection!

>104 Shadekeep: and >107 ChestnutPress: Thank you!

>102 SebRinelli: Yes, it's a beautiful box that was made by Taller Martin Pescador:
Gawain and the Green Knight, from Taller Martin Pescador

>104 Shadekeep: Thanks, and I totally agree, I also think they're some of the best recent fine press books 😊

>85 ChestnutPress:
No, its a Simon Randall limited edition Signed by artist Clare Melinsky No. 48 of 50. Four page facsimile of the original letters in a separate folder.

>113 A.Nobody: that looks familiar, yes

> That is the one I am thinking of, I believe. I think the colophon will say that John Grice printed it?

>114 NathanOv: All of his books are spectacular. I eagerly await the next!!

Given the recent run of "mostly one press" shelves, here's mine of Fleece Press. The two unlabeled slipcases among them are also FP titles, one of them my favorite from the press. Other presses are present as well.

>119 ChestnutPress:
You are, of course, correct. Printed by John Grice of Evergreen Press.

>118 LBShoreBook: Ooh, some gems there! I spot a couple from the Ascensius Press, including another copy of the cloth bound “North of Boston”.
And a nice little selection of Melville, with “The Lightning-Rod Man” and the Indulgence Press “Bartleby”!

Wow, this thread is really putting my wallet at a risk...

>121 Shadekeep: Sensuous Lines is amazing. And still available directly from Simon Lawrence at the Fleece Press.

>125 Chemren: Indeed, and it's a peach of a book!

>123 kermaier: Thanks! You keyed in on my primary collecting interests, Melville and Ascensius Press titles. I just acquired Suntup's Yellow Wallpaper because Scott Vile did the printing. I also own a copy of Song of the Broad-Axe, which is far too large for the shelf in my picture.

>106 ChestnutPress: Thanks. I've looked at it before online but did not recognize it from that angle
>112 abysswalker: Thanks. Tallone books look great but I don't think an unillustrated Hamlet would be the one I'm likely to buy

>128 PBB:

If you’re interested in an illustrated hamlet, large format, printed on beautiful paper, bound in full leather over wooden boards - perhaps the edition with lithographs by Henry Moore?

I love seeing your shelves. It's really nice to see such diverse collections of books. I want to add what is/was my Thornwillow cloth bound shelf. As I inevitably ran out of shelf space I started to add some smaller volumes horizontally in front of them, since there was some space left. That got slightly out of hand over the last year(s) and now the Thornwillows are almost invisible in the back.

>130 c_schelle:

That’s an intriguing looking assortment. I’m curious, what are the 3 (& more)volumes stacked above “the little prince” ?

My Joyce shelfie, minus the new TW Ulysses I've got to make room for. There's a couple more Joyce editions in random places about the house, ha ha.

>131 sanvito: above the Little Prince are the English version of Prelo Prints Aesop's Fables, Per Sephone by No Reply Press (bound in cave paper) and Old Men in Cloth Caps by Gordon Thomson published by Gillian Stewart (Juju books). In the left stack in the black solander is Fahrenheit 451 published by super terrain. It's quite gimmicky as it's printed on heat sensitive paper and can only be read when hot, e.g. by holding a lighter directly to the page.

>130 c_schelle: Lovely stuff, and somewhat appropriate to see No Reply in front of Thornwillow, given Griffin's past association with Luke. Also good to see another shelf with the Prelo Aesop!

>135 Sport1963:

These are beautiful. Paper specimen books are some of my favourite. I don’t yet have any of the great Dard Hunter tomes. But I’d be curious from your own collection, if any single work on fine papers particularly stands out to you?

>133 c_schelle: thank you. I quite like less typical smaller bindings, and the cave paper looks very attractive. As for Fahrenheit 451, I hadn’t heard of the edition until reading your reply - it actually looks quite interesting at least from the pictures online - I wonder, does the text only stay visible whilst heated, or is it a one time process? (& of course, have you ”burnt/read” your book yet ?)

>136 sanvito: Dard Hunter Jr.'s two volume work "The Life Work of Dard Hunter" is my favorite. Hunter was a fascinating man. I would like to add his "Primitive Papermaking" (1927) to my collection one day.

The papermaking book I really covet is Thomas Tindale's "The Handmade Papers of Japan" (1952), with all its specimens, some of which date back to the eighth century. I had a chance to peruse it at the April book fair in Manhattan. It was quite a treat.

>129 sanvito: Looks like a very impressive book, can't find too many pictures of the illustrations online so don't know if it would be the one for me. There would also have to be 10 times more copies on the market than there are now for me to afford a copy.

The books in the bottom left of your picture are more realistic for me. I've been trying to decide on Nonesuch vs 1933 vs 1950 LEC Don Quixote and think I will go with the Nonesuch.

>139 PBB: Have you checked out the 1930s LEC?

I forget the exact year.

>140 SDB2012: >139 PBB: between the 2 LECs I much prefer the 1930s edition. Marvelous and quite unique paper, nice translation (I forget if the LECs both use the same translation, but I know the 1930s one is good).

>140 SDB2012:
>141 abysswalker:
I like the look of the 1933 LEC, and on the George Macy Devotees page others have recommended it. The case seems poorly made and any available copies don't have it in acceptable condition.
Still leaning towards the Nonesuch over the other two. I'd be willing to buy that one without the slipcase.

>142 PBB: >142 PBB: the Nonesuch Don Quixote is one of my favourite books. The handmade paper is unique, it has the qualities of the best western handmade papers, and the lightness of the kind of papers normally only found in the eastern tradition. In addition, the Nonesuch Don Quixote has illustrations which are probably my favourite of any illustrated 20th century book (indeed, even more than the Cranach Hamlet). The typography is simple but flawless, the drop caps are gorgeous. And in addition to all that, the book happens to be actually readable - sometimes an unusual thing for a fine press book. The translation is pleasant, the binding is excellent, beautiful, simple, and strong.

>139 PBB: I was lucky to get a copy of the Moore Hamlet for a fraction of the usual price. But I suppose all of us book lovers can reluctantly benefit from living in a time when neither books nor Shakespeare are overly valued, so that these things do turn up quite randomly at more affordable prices. Personally I like the illustrations, perhaps because I like Henry Moore. The Typography is nothing show stopping, but very nicely done.

>138 Sport1963: the Tindale volume looks wonderful. I don’t have it, but I have a few Japanese specimen books, and the variety & quality of eastern handmade papers is endless. One unusual book I love is the Nelson Stevens specimen book from the early-mid 20th century. It’s unusually affordable most of the time, and showcases the gamut of beautiful papers available commercially at the period when it was made, and with interesting typography by the likes of Bruce Rogers, Van Krimpen, Mardersteig, etc.

>143 sanvito: that's a strong rec!

>142 PBB: I bought one with the idea of rebinding because the insides are in great shape but the covers- ouch. But I acquired one that was already rebound so I have one available for anyone looking for a project.

>134 Shadekeep: Definetly fitting to combine Thornwillow and No Reply Press. I just wish I had enough space to display them all properly. I wish I was early enough to get the german version of Aesop, but I'm definetly happy with the english version. I'm looking forward to their new project with more of the small booklets.

>137 sanvito: It stays only visible while hot/warm. You could put it in the oven to be readable, but as soon as it cools down it is black again. It's definetly not a reading copy.

Weak theme here, a few horror-leaning titles along with some press books I'd like to keep away from the sun. The three chapbooks up top are the Pegana Zothique stories, waiting for a properly sized case to become available.

Anyone with a copy of The Age of Malygris needing a new home, get in touch. My copy of The Age of Whelming is lonely.

>148 abysswalker: Good mix! Delighted to see three Tudor Black Press titles in there as well.

>150 Sport1963: Does my little eye spy a couple of Sutton Hoo books in that photo? For sure I spot Delmira Agustini's A Flock of Scarlet Doves, no?

>150 Sport1963: Curious if your Riverside Press Montaigne is unopened. I’ve seen three copies at auction and they were all unopened. Folks didn’t seem to read this Rogers gem.

>150 Sport1963: Nice mix! What's the stab-bound title on the shelf?

>150 Sport1963: Lovely to see Haiku na Feirme among those. A beautiful edition on the most gorgeous papers!

>153 Shadekeep: That's the "Tao Te Ching" from the Providence Press. Very cool little book, and one frequently brought down from the shelves. For sanity preservation purposes.

EDIT: A big whoops on my part, that stab-bound book in the photo is "No Harm Done" by Gary Young. A wonderful book designed and printed by Chad Oness, proprietor of the Sutton Hoo Press, in the Driftless Region of Southeast Minnesota. My favorite passage in this book is the poetry of constructing a sushi roll...

>153 Shadekeep:
https://www.thewholebookexperience.com/2019/12/29/tao-te-ching-by-lao-tzu-publis...

>155 Sport1963: >156 bacchus.:

How charming! Thank you both, looks like one to get.

>155 Sport1963: Norman Clayton prints really beautiful work. I have a few bits he has done of Dana Gioia’s poetry

>157 Shadekeep: I can also recommend this one, though worth noting that it's a creative/nontraditional translation.

>159 abysswalker: Thanks, and that appeals to me. It's easy enough to find conventional translations of foundational texts, I like to seek out the unusual ones.

>154 ChestnutPress: I agree. And the blue linen bound book next to that is also from The Salvage Press - "Winter". I think that title is under-appreciated from a literary and a value perspective.

>152 Chemren: Check. Mostly unopened, except for the first few pages of Book I. Someone gave up after page 24.

>151 Glacierman: Good eye sir. You are correct.

>161 Sport1963: I agree about ‘Winter’. A really strong production!

>155 Sport1963: I thought so! Just wasn't absolutely sure. I am very fond of Chad's work....

Another Shelfie with my prize Joyce edition and lots of other fine press goodness. Bonus points if you can guess the two lacking spine labels.

>166 jveezer: Lovely! Is the blue spine in the pink slipcase the Fine Press Poetry Eight World's Wives?

Like many people, my fine press journey began with the LEC. Here's a favourite shelf with some great titles from the first few decades of the club. Don Quixote was a recent acquisition.

It's interesting to see so many shelfies here with books in cabinets. I've recently switched a lot of my collection from open bookcases to cabinets with doors, and I am enjoying the change. In some ways it's a shame not to be able to see the books all the time, but it's also nice not to think about dust and light.

>167 GardenOfForkingPaths: I have had all my books behind closed doors to protect them from dust and light for years now. I couldn’t entertain the idea of them being on open display, slowly getting faded and dust-ridden!

>167 GardenOfForkingPaths: Nice to see slipcases in such fine condition. After transatlantic shipping I often receive them in much worse shape. From my experience I dare to say that even elite booksellers or auction houses often don't pack their books well.

LEC Don Quixote is very high on my wishlist. I don't own any editions of this classic which is a shame.

Also, I store my books behind closed doors too. Unfortunately there's no space anymore. It is a huge challenge to rearrange all the books after each new purchase, so I can fit the new book in without any risk of damage.

>167 GardenOfForkingPaths:

You certainly go for F+/NM LECs! Amazing shelf.

>168 ChestnutPress: I can definitely see the advantages of doors! Another benefit: most of my TBR pile - more like a 'TBR bookcase' - is now hidden so I can't see it taunting me.

>170 GusLogan: Thanks! At the beginning, I always waited for copies where the spine/label of the slipcases were in nice shape, because that's how I wanted to shelve them. It's always a nice bonus to get a fine slipcase, but since then I've become much more relaxed about slipcase condition or even if there's one at all. I've had cloth slipcases made for some of the nicer early LECs where the original cases fell apart, and I think you end up with something much nicer overall. Well, in my opinion, anyway.

>169 Lukas1990: Wow, what a cabinet of wonderful fine press treasures. Yeah, space quickly fills up... especially with books of that size :) I guess the large red one is the Bruce Rogers World Bible? What is the other large book you are storing horizontally on the left?

>167 GardenOfForkingPaths: It is indeed. One of my favorite books of poetry.

>171 GardenOfForkingPaths: You're correct on the red one. The oher large book is a 1933 German facsimile of The Nuremberg Chronicle. It is printed on nice laid paper.

>169 Lukas1990: I have also started resorting to books in drawers, now that rearrangement of shelving is no longer an option due to overcrowding. I need a dedicated library extension building!! 🤣

>167 GardenOfForkingPaths: I'll echo what many have said of your LEC slipcases, they are in absolutely amazing condition. I know one or two LEC completists that would happily fork over quite a bit of cash for slipcases that Fine. Certain collectors want THE best copy, hard stop. These are worthy of a Morgan Library exhibition.

>175 Sport1963: Well, that's nice to hear, thanks! Some of those were from Different Drummer. He sometimes has early LECs in remarkable condition, and his prices are usually pretty fair. On the whole, though, I've had most success on eBay rather than with established booksellers.

Here’s my shelf that I reorganized today, I took out the middle shelf of my bookcase so I could stand all the T A L L books up for once.

Also thanks to the poster earlier in the thread that recommend the orange binders. I have neglected to order any actual inserts for them as of now, but they do fit very well.

In case I mess up posting the image is also in my gallery showcase. Happy to share more about any of the books if there are questions.

>177 ensuen: Nice, you were able to get some of the Lighthouse Grande PUR binders. I started filling the seventh chapbook one this week.

Lovely to see one of the few copies of The Island Whale from Two Ponds Press there, kudos on that!

>178 Shadekeep: Thanks! The illustrations inside are well worth the price. I’m still relatively early in my career, but I’m happy I was able to push past my price sensitivity and get it. I’ve had a lot of fun looking at the pictures available and seeing how the illustrations evolve during the run of the edition. If there are any other works that have the same style (hand drawn or the same “journal” feel), I would love some recommendations.

Her other works to the left, are both worth a read if you (both _you_, and the other forum readers) haven’t already picked up a copy. Between Two Ponds Press and her gallery (currently Bromer IIRC), there should be 1-2 copies available for each of the three works.

Edit: My main point of interest for collecting is books that can only exist in Fine Press or basically wouldn’t work as an e-book. Not to hijack the thread, but happy to get any recommendations for artists, books or presses that are in that theme.

>177 ensuen: Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that the large 4to next to Memento Mori : Memento Vivere is Gerald Cinamon's monograph on E. R. Weiss, also from Incline Press.

>180 Glacierman: It is! The presswork that Graham Moss does is truly stunning. There weren’t really any videos online when I looked, so I bought it on sort of faith, and I’m really impressed by it. Roughly 80% of the pages have some sort of insert or special printing or binding going on.

>181 ensuen: Yeah, it is an awesome book, without doubt. Graham sent me a prospectus for it back when he first announced it, but it took me a few years to get to where I could acquire it. I got my copy directly from Graham. There's a few copies left...he found some unbound sheets lurking in the shadows and had them bound.

>179 ensuen: I just checked out MONARCH on Anneli Skaar's website, it does sound like a treasure! Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

For richly illustrated books and catalogues raisonné I would recommend Fleece Press. Much of what Simon produces you won't see anywhere else, and they certain need to be physical books rather than digital.

Intima Press does magnificent volumes of superlative quality. I would love some day to have one of Mindy's unique masterwork editions.

For livres d'artiste in general you can peruse Vamp & Tramp Booksellers, such things are their specialty.

There's more to recommend, but that should be a good start at the moment. And I'm a big fan of Incline Press as well, Graham and Helen do delightful work. If you don't have the latest, Singing Aloud, I recommend it, and I'm excited about their forthcoming Punch & Judy.

>179 ensuen: "My main point of interest for collecting is books that can only exist in Fine Press."

I have a similar collecting philosophy! You're probably already aware of Foolscap and Nawakum Press, as well as Amy Borezo's own publications via Shelter Bookworks.

I'd also look into Pie In The Sky Press for similar nature-focused artist books (still very much fine press with lots of text to read), as well as Lone Oak Press (texts that are mostly unique to fine press and have fantastic art reproduction) and Red Angel Press (creative bindings and unique approaches to illustration, such as bas relief, translucent double sided artworks and more).

I also second Intima press - their illuminated texts are incredible.

Littoral Press does a mix of Objet d'art and artists books, but some of their more substantial artists books are worthy of fine press collections as well.

By the way, it's cool to see the whole Solastalgia trilogy together on one shelf - I didn't realize Monarch was now available so will have to reach out!

>183 Shadekeep: Thanks for the recs! Fleece press is very much new to me, I suspect I’m going to be making an order from them some time soon. Vamps and tramps is new as well, I’ll have to pull out my laptop and look through all the pages in a sitting or two.

My last (and only so far) Incline Press order was just before Singing Aloud came out, so I appreciate the mention. I probably should see if the presses I like have an email list or something.

>184 NathanOv: thanks for the recs too! I actually have one of Amy’s books coming in a week or two, which I am very excited about. Pie in the sky press is very to my taste aesthetics wise, there’s a book or two that they have that I’m giving myself a couple days to think before I pull the trigger.

The Intima press output is interesting, but for a couple of the items I may have to track down more photos or a video online. It’s hard to explain exactly, but it’s hard to get a sense for the works via the photos on the site.

—

Happy to see more people excited about Monarch, it’s a smaller edition (10 numbered, 5 IIRC artist proofs), so there’s not a ton of discussion online. If you have enjoyed her other works, I’d really recommend it.

>185 ensuen: One other press you may wish to check out is Effra Press. I am working on placing my first order with Nick now and his stuff looks very impressive online. His titles are small limitations, in part because for many of them each one is illustrated by hand. He also casts type, which I how I learned about him originally, as some of the presses I like get type from him. Happy to share my experience when my books arrive if it's of interest.

>186 Shadekeep: That would be great, the books look fantastic. I’m based in the US, so my interest is a little academic unless the press owner responds to my email/instagram DM. He does have similar taste to me in fountain pen ink so that’s always a plus.

>187 ensuen: Good timing, I just got an email from Nick. He is putting together my order. The only hitch is that he's just discovered the paper grain for Monologue for voices is wrong for binding on the standards, so he is only able to offer the specials. Turns out I'm the first person to ask about him, so he didn't notice the problem until now.

To stir things along in this thread, the photo below includes about 1/3 of my limited and fine edition books.

>189 wcarter:
Many shelves appear to have a sheet covering the tops of the books. Is this some sort of cloth to limit dust accumulation on the tops of the books?

I saw this idea in the library of a French chateau many years ago where leather strips were laid across the top of the books to prevent dust accumulating. I have not used leather but heavy felt backed vinyl which works very well and protects the books wonderfully.

This includes a few very recent acquisitions, including from >3 NathanOv: and >34 SuttonHooPress:

>192 jbrnewman: Nice little collection. I see we have at least two in common: Larkspur Press' Encounter and Ask the Fellows Who Cut the Hay from Ploughman's Parrot Press. And it appears you are rather fond of Wendell Berry, or I miss my guess. ;-)

>192 jbrnewman: anyone would think you like Wendell Berry! 😁
A very fine selection from some great presses. Nice to see what look to be some Press on Scroll Road in there

>192 jbrnewman: Very nice indeed. It looks very stately.

My interest has been piqued. On my bookshelves I have to tilt my head to the right to read the spines on all my books. I note there are several in your collection that are the other way around. Berry's The Rise for example. Is this a peculiarity of a particular press or is something else at play?

>195 Pendrainllwyn: I believe the convention in continental Europe was/is for spine titles to be printed bottom to top, whereas the opposite is true in anglophone countries. Not sure why!

>196 cyber_naut: A ha! Thank you.

>195 Pendrainllwyn:
Some Folio Society books in the 1960s had spine titles that went from bottom to top. No idea why.

195-197: Indeed, bottom-to-top is the convention for South America and Central / Southern / Eastern Europe (e.g., Germany, France, Russia). The Nordic Countries, the Netherlands, the UK, along with its many estranged colonies, generally do things right, but even there bottom-to-top can be a peculiarity of a specific press. For example, the Folio Society originally used to print their titles bottom-to-top - and only switched direction sometime in the 1980s.

While I don't know the answer either I would think the Anglo-style top to bottom orientation makes more sense. Unless I'm missing something obvious (which tbh does happen often with me); when you lay a book flat on a surface with the front board facing upward, y'know a natural position when you actually open a book up, the title on the spine is readable. In order to get a bottom-up title to be legible you'd have to place it with the front board facing down and I don't know in what circumstance that would make any sense to do since I don't know anyone outside of Asian countries who reads a book back to front.

Thank you for the compliments.

>193 Glacierman: You do not miss your guess, Wendell Berry (and his friendship with Gray Zeitz) are the reason for my initial interest in fine press art. I would love more of Merton's work to be available fine press. George Ewart Evans is another, more recently discovered, favorite.

>194 ChestnutPress: Indeed! I have the four on this shelf (the two Wendell Berry, the Henry Mitchell, and David Kline's Three Essays) and I'm fortunate to have The Mad Farmer Poems on a taller shelf where it can fit.

>195 Pendrainllwyn: Others have already provided better answers, but Gray Zeitz' work at Larkspur Press is the primary reason that so many of my spines read bottom to top.

>192 jbrnewman: A lovely selection, always heartening to see a shelf rich with Larkspur. And nice to see Rorer's An Idea of Geometry among the titles as well!

>202 Shadekeep: I was so pleasantly surprised with An Idea of Geometry, it's a wonderful little book. I have more of a struggle not buying everything printed at Larkspur than finding work to like.

I've also since added Pastoral Elegies from Barbarian Press to this shelf, which I cannot recommend highly enough.

>96 Dr.Fiddy: Just seen that I missed this response. The resetting of the text was something that I needed to do for the best of the edition, but for the sake of my sanity something I’d not do again!!

>204 ChestnutPress: I suspect that oftentimes these types of efforts don't get the wow factor they deserve from the public eye. I recall that James was very enthusiastic about the digital typesetting and that encouraged me to think a little deeper about what that might entail. I would be happy to read about your method if you happen to have a blog post or article about what worked and what didn't.

I was fortunate enough to be able to read the facsimile edition and am grateful for the wonderful reading experience. I can appreciate the time needed to set the text in the digital method, but it was worth it; the result makes for a lovely read. As you mention that this isn't something you would do again, this makes this edition even more or a rarity since digitally setting type isn't an undertaking I can even imagine many other people would be willing to attempt.

Thank you, from a reader who enjoyed the fruits of your labor.

>205 Tuna_Melon: Thank you for this kind message. It’s actually really difficult to properly explain what I ended up doing (and why) without writing a pretty lengthy essay! When discussing it with James, I was actually sending him screenshots of what I was doing while trying to explain it. I will try and think of a way I might be able to accurately describe what I did. Leave it with me for a day or two!

As for digitally setting type for fine press being a rarity; far from it! It gets done all the time. What doesn’t get done all the time is that the text is finely adjusted word-by-word, line-by-line (and sometimes even letter-by-letter in places) throughout the whole setting! That’s the level only obsessive idiots like myself go to! 🤣

>206 ChestnutPress: But it pays off in the end! The Tale of Sinuhe is much better for your obsession, sir. And I can't wait to see the final product....

>207 Glacierman: Cheers! I agree it is worth it, but it’s overly-painstaking work for the small handful of people that would really know the difference! It’s mostly worth doing from a personal standpoint; I believe if a job should be done to its best, even if it is a rod for my own back sometimes. 😁

I’m also looking forward to seeing the finished Sinuhe. One can only fully judge the successes and failures of their work at the final stage. I do know that the colophon page looked pleasing, though, with Max having done a very fine job of the presswork.

Loving all the shelf porn and honored to see some of my books in the stacks. Here's one of mine, more to come if anyone's interested. Most of these are tasty early 20th century work.

>209 DWPress: Are those tiny books in the gaps of the wood between your shelves?

>209 DWPress: what's that edition of Prufrock?

>209 DWPress: A quality mixed bag, Chad!

>211 filox: my guess is the edition of No Reply Press
https://www.noreplypress.com/archive/prufrock

>209 DWPress: Nicely eclectic mix! Great to see the Merker biblio among the mix, too, as well as what looks like an NRP title.

Meanwhile I got the first of your books onto my own shelves as well. And nice they are!

>210 921Jack: Yes, old pocket sketchbooks from my back country camping days.

>211 filox: No Reply edition indeed!

>214 Shadekeep: Thanks!

Some of the unlabeled spines are treats from Incline Press, Riverside, Sign of the Dolphin, Brier Hill Press and a Steven Sorman artists book. The Aldus book is a leaf book from the Grabhorns with a really nice page from the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.

Another shelf:

>209 DWPress: what's the story with all the old library books? Did you stumble across a sale of a bunch of them some time? I often thought ex library books, though shunned by collectors, are a nice way to affordably sample nice books.

>215 DWPress: Oo, you have the Mayflies book! Some other choice titles, too. What press did that Philobiblion? And I'm very curious what the Andrea Rescued book is, as well as the Charcoals.

Andrea Rescued is one of the quirky and wonderful books from Mark McMurray and his Caliban Press.

>216 ubiquitousuk: The books with library marks came from one collection of maybe 50 books that was gifted to me probably 25 years ago by the daughter of George Kenyon Hebb who was the principal in Evans-Winter-Hebb in Detroit and president of the United Typothetae in 1924-5. They are all gift books from his peers like George Jones, Morris, Grabhorn, Updike, Dwiggins and more. Most of them are inscribed to GKH by their makers with short notes, photos and other ephemera still inside. GKH had a lending library in his office and checked these books out to any of his workers who were interested in bettering their skills by observation. All of them have GKH bookplates in them too which were designed by Thomas Cleland. A lot of them also have a library card sleeve glued into the front cover as well.

These books did more for my education in fine press than anything else and I continue to draw inspiration from them. They were given to me because Anne Hebb knew I would value them and they'd not end up in institutional stacks somewhere. Someday I hope to do a book describing the experience of getting these gems. They were all in rough shape when I got them, some I intend to rebind.

>217 Shadekeep: The Philobiblon is a 600th anniversary edition from 1945 printed by Peter Beilenson, published by Philip C Duschnes, NY.

Charcoals of New and Old New York - Pictures and text by F. Hopkinson Smith and published by Doubleday in 1912. Really nice tipped in lithos of the charcoal drawings.

>218 dlphcoracl: correct, that one is from Mark.

>218 dlphcoracl: >219 DWPress: Thanks! I've been meaning to add Caliban Press to the search list. This title seems elusive, but there are others with promise.

>215 DWPress: Don't have the Lacroix book on arts of the Middle Ages, but I do have Military and Religious Life in the Middle Ages .... (Chapman & Hall, 1875). It resides in a bespoke chemise and slipcase. And you have an issue of Matrix amongst all those nifty items. That, to me, is a real treasure.

>215 DWPress: Is the big brown one on the right the Nonesuch Mask of Comus?

>222 Chemren: No, it's a box full of page specimens from printed books going back to the 15th century. Treasures.

I've plenty more shelves but I'll leave you with this last one that contains most of the books printed here at DWP:

>223 DWPress: Really nice slate of titles, both your own and other presses. Is the reddish one with raised bands one of your editions? It's luverly, what's the title?

>224 Shadekeep: These are all DWP - I am, essentially, Mad Parrot and Chester River as well and all these were printed and (with one exception) bound here. There's also a couple books done by apprentices. The books over 14" and ephemeral stuff is elsewhere. These represent the standard editions with a couple nicer bindings thrown in like the one you asked about which is a deluxe Winter Walks, the pale green next to it is the standard.

>225 DWPress: You are far too many talented people. You need to share it around. 😊

Chester River is on my get-list too. Just gotta remember where I buried all those mason jars of krugerrands...

The Gwasg Gregynog special bindings shelf, plus some other GG exotica which also need an oversize shelf. Six of these books are 'Copy 1', done for the chairman of the Press Lord Kenyon. Notes to follow, since I can't seem to include them below the photo in this post.

Brief notes on some of the books, mainly for those not featured in Anthony Dowd’s The Special Bindings of Gwasg Gregynog for one reason or another:

Thomas Olivers of Tregynon: not in Dowd, but a (modest) special binding nevertheless. One of 15 copies in quarter-leather by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, handmade Arnold paper (unusually for the special bindings, for which in every other case the ’special’ aspect was restricted to the binding itself, plus sometimes extra sets of prints). In a custom solander box done to match the style of the GG boxes.

Llyfr Ionas: a one-off binding of sheets, done by Dowd himself in the course of his learning more about the craft by taking a bookbinding course. Quarter-leather over raw silk-covered boards.

Selborne: not in Dowd (curiously), although fully documented in the colophon and the 1991 Descriptive Catalogue as one of 25 copies in full leather. Perhaps its only failings are being rather plain, and the identity of the binder being nowhere mentioned.

Descriptive Catalogue: out of the 25 (although probably not all completed) special bindings, this is one of 5 ‘super-specials’, identically-bound but with the addition of a large portfolio of ephemeral material and a larger solander box to hold it. A forerunner of the later and better-known ‘Miscellanea’ collections.

The Story of Heledd: custom solander box done to match the style of the GG boxes, as it was supplied in only a plain card slipcase

The Special Bindings of Gwasg Gregynog: a magnificent James Brockman binding, my personal favourite, not in Dowd and thus avoiding a Gödel-like self-referential loop

Miscellanea I (2005): the ‘super-special’ red edition and the special green edition. The box for the green edition was optional at extra cost, done to match the red edition of which all 30 were supplied in a box. There was also an optional box for the ordinary (blue) edition, although I’ve never seen one.

Miscellanea II (2010): the special red edition of 25 copies (for this later Miscellanea collection, there were just two variants, the red, and the ordinary edition, confusingly in green this time). Or perhaps they should be considered as super-special and special respectively, to align the colours with Miscellanea I?

Miscellanea III (2023): the special edition (15 copies) done last year as part of the projected re-revival of the Press.

Newhaven-Dieppe: a well-known commission for Dennis Hall's Previous Parrot Press, this being the ‘Exemplary Edition’ aka super-special, of 18 copies.

Murmura Maldwyn: an obscure commission of 2003, just nine copies done of which only four were for sale. Housed in a hessian sack with wooden peg closure.

That leaves twelve more special bindings still on the desiderata list (discounting the single specially-bound copy of Chwe Cherdd, 1985, done for Eric Gee on his retirement), but it’s slow going!

>227 BillWoodbridge: I love seeing such dedicated collections. An inspiring feat to have have amassed these.

>227 BillWoodbridge: Magnificent! Do you collect their standard bindings as well? If so, I would love to see pictures of your other GG shelves. Do you have a personal favourite in your collection?

>227 BillWoodbridge: Great collection! Do you have any special bindings of good old Gregynog press? One of my priced possesions is The Revelation of St. John The Divine but it has a standart binding.

>229 ChestnutPress: Thank you!

>230 GardenOfForkingPaths: Yes, I do collect the standard bindings as well, plus the ‘intermediate’ bindings. That’s my term for the (roughly) 17 books that had limitations of typically 50-100 copies in a superior binding (usually quarter-leather) to the ordinaries, but not full-fat special bindings. I also try for the ephemera, but that’s another story. Thanks for your interest - I’ll post a couple of further shelfies of those books in the next few days. A personal favourite is difficult – it’s probably Wrenching Times with the fantastic Gaylord Schanilec colour engravings, although a more obvious answer is Of a Feather (the GG magnum opus?) and a close second/third is the Agnes Miller Parker pair by Ian Rogerson.

>231 Lukas1990: No, alas, the special bindings of the pre-war Press are above my pay grade! Barring a few really rather plain ones, prices quickly zoom into the stratosphere of course, so as a completist by nature I’d always be frustrated. I do however collect the standard books, and the Revelation is my personal favourite of those (including the mighty AMP Esope), a fantastic thing to have. And its standard binding is rather beautiful too. Is its companion, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, on your desiderata list? It’s annoyingly different in size despite being such a close cousin, but I had a dual-slipcase made to house them both and conceal that fact! I think the Revelation just has the edge though – the format is nicer, the typography is less cramped and the Lamentations engravings, though magnificent, get a little repetitive after a while.

>232 BillWoodbridge: Yes, Lamentations of Jeremiah is very high on my wish-list but my most wanted book is Life of Saint David. I missed a couple of opportunities, this and last year, to acquire it... From Gwasg Gregynog I would like to get that Giraldus Cambrensis. The standart binding would be enough. Not sure why I'm waiting so long haha.

The dual-slipcase sounds like a nice idea.

>228 BillWoodbridge: Thank you for posting. A stunning collection of a most excellent Press. I missed a chance to bid on a special binding of "The Mountains of Wales" this past Thursday at the Hindman Chicago auction. Had I been paying attention to the early lot number 23, there was a bargain to be had. The item did not receive a bid and went unsold. I do not believe there was a minimum bid set for that lot either.

I agree with your take on Schanilec's engraving work for "Wrenching Times" and would like to add an endorsement for the special binding of "Sundrie Pieces" by George Herbert. The binding description: "full multi-colored calf and goatskin, the calf dyed various shades of green, blue, purple, pink, and yellow, the pattern suggestive of a landscape with a small house in the foreground, spine and covers with goatskin inlay forming the shape of a cross when completely open, gilt halo radiating from behind the cross, smooth spine with gilt lettering, top edge dyed yellow; Suite of plates in a mustard yellow cloth box, housed together in a matching clamshell box lined with velvet, the box spine with dark purple goatskin label and gilt lettering"

Here's a photo:

>227 BillWoodbridge: I was recently reading Pradeep Sebastian's The Book Beautiful and I guess you know that he waxes lyrical about your Stanbrook Abbey collection. It's pretty impressive that you also managed such a serious assembly of Gregynog titles.

>228 BillWoodbridge: Beautiful collection! Echoing >229 ChestnutPress:, it's great to see such dedication and focus in a collection, even if it is just a portion of what you have. Much respect!

>234 Sport1963: Thanks very much. Yes, I saw that Mountains of Wales special binding come up. Could be a candidate for a post-sale offer perhaps? I’ve seen the special of Sundrie Pieces once, in the collection at Gregynog Hall in fact, and I too thought it was terrific – the special bindings, apart from the appeal of their artistry and craftsmanship, add such additional physical presence and heft to the books and that was really striking in this case. (Speaking of which: Giraldus Cambrensis special binding = another book in oak boards, which I don’t think has been mentioned yet in that thread). I kick myself for not stretching to the copy of Sundrie Pieces that went for a (relative) song at Forum a few years back, and then reappeared on ABE as these things sometimes do (now sold, I believe). I think your photo might be of that very one?

>235 ubiquitousuk: Thanks, yes, Pradeep was very kind to me to the point of embarrassment in his book, despite my scepticism when he first told me what the world needed was lengthy extracts from emails of me droning on about Stanbrook Abbey Press! One reason I moved on to Gwasg Gregynog, not to belittle in any way the excellence of that Press, was that Stanbrook opportunities were becoming so scarce as completion approached that collecting life was becoming somewhat boring.

>236 DenimDan: Thanks! I’ll post a couple more photos next week, but I don’t want to hog the thread.

Yes - more GG shelves please! It was always a pleasure to linger at their table during a slow Oak Knoll fair and page through the samples and scarf up prospectuses. Except the year David had to sit behind an empty table because the boxes of books had not quite the same flight plan....

>237 BillWoodbridge: Looks like "Mountains of Wales" did indeed go post-auction, as it now shows sold. I hope someone on the LT FPF was able to acquire it.

Your posts inspired me to make a move on a copy of "Of A Feather" that I have been eyeing for several months. While not a GG "special binding", it is a unique custom binding done in half morocco and polished walnut by a binder in the States. I'll post some pictures after it arrives.

The "Sundrie Pieces" photo is from a bookseller's site, I believe. My photography skills leave much to be desired, yet I am improving, albeit at glacial speed. I'll try to get some good pics of my copy and post them. I'll probably start a GG "special bindings thread" as I've a few GG specials, as well as custom bindings. I've got several George Fisher Gregynog special bindings too, so might as well try to post those up, if folks are interested.

>239 Sport1963: "I've got several George Fisher Gregynog special bindings too, so might as well try to post those up, if folks are interested".

Yes, please! Life of Saint David and Euripides among them, as I remember.

>239 Sport1963: Please do count me in for a Gregynog / Gwasg Gregynog special bindings thread. I was conscious it was slightly silly of me to start off a conversation about special bindings with a picture that shows every single one of them still in their boxes!

Re-arranged my books a little bit ant took some shelfies.

>242 Lukas1990: our tastes are highly aligned!

Who published the Emerson Nature?

>243 abysswalker: Bremmer Presse from Germany. It's in English. Very nice printing.

https://www.biblio.com/book/nature-emerson-ralph-waldo/d/1467664541?srsltid=AfmB...

>242 Lukas1990: Very nice selection! Is that the GCP True Historie of Lucian the Samosatenian lurking in the shadow of the Frankenstein? Fantastic book, ranks only just below the three GCP magna opera (Four Gospels, Canterbury Tales, Troilus & Criseyde) in my opinion.

>245 BillWoodbridge: Yes it is. Copy number 2! One of my favorites.

>242 Lukas1990: Such beautiful books. They do look very classy. It seems a shame to hide these beauties behind non see-through doors. It's none of my business, but I wonder if you have ever thought of using museum acrylic for your doors which would protect the books from dust and light but would let you see them all the time.

By popular request, here are two shelves of ‘ordinary’ Gwasg Gregynogs. Apologies for breaking the one shelf rule, but they make so much more sense when seen together since the books (annoyingly) have had to be separated by height rather than any more bibliographically justifiable scheme. I always hate having to resort to that, but otherwise I’d lose too much space from my overall shelving capacity.

Once the height split is done, each shelf is arranged by category with publications first, followed by commissions and collections of smaller items and ephemera (eg the various Miscellanea folders), and then by order of publication date within those categories.

Spot the missing books! (The ordinary copy of the Descriptive Catalogue is kept in my private press reference section, purely because shelf space is so tight here, the huge Parzival is on a separate super-oversize shelf and there are a couple out of sight behind the door frame on the left). As far as I know I’m lacking three variants of GG publications, all of them the ‘intermediate’ limitation in quarter-leather: Emynau Williams Pantycelyn, The Story of Heledd and Emynau Morgan Rhys. Plus one very obscure commission: Poems by E J Scovell (1991). I regard as out-of-scope the various Shirley Jones / Red Hen Press books for which Gwasg Gregynog undertook binding and typesetting, but not printing. Likewise I don’t collect GG-issued prints, or sets of prints, even when those are closely associated with the books (although I’ll probably make an exception for the Lover’s Song Book engravings at some stage).

>248 BillWoodbridge:
Impressive!

>248 BillWoodbridge: That's great to see them all together like that. Truly a bounty of wonderful books!

>248 BillWoodbridge: Do you have the private commission booklet that they printed for David Burnett (Nine Poets)?

>251 ChestnutPress: Yes - the small red booklet, bottom shelf, three to the left of the Gregynog Poets box. It has one of the sets of Simon Brett's loose prints laid-in, but sadly only seven out of the nine (missing Ovid and Blok). That corresponds with those that are listed as still available in the list 'Limited Edition Prints' of Autumn 2001 - the first reference I can find to the offer of separate prints. Editions of 50 copies of each were done, at £35.25 for each print (twice the price of the booklet!). Ovid and Blok must have been especially popular perhaps - unless they met with some sort of printing mishap and their edition sizes were smaller?

>252 BillWoodbridge: Very fine to have the individual prints also! You may well have already done so, but I wonder if it’s worth reaching out to Simon Brett to see whether he might have his own editioned copies of those missing two?

>247 Pendrainllwyn: I actually consider getting a new bookcase with glass doors. Might even be custom built.

>253 ChestnutPress: Good suggestion - thanks, I may well do that.

>255 BillWoodbridge: It’s really worth doing to get that full set, and Simon’s a great chap

Some of my oversized fine press items. Mostly from the Fleece Press. Mostly!

>257 TheTotalLibrarian: That's a fine selection! Your and my shelf have quite a lot of shared overlap, including the two at the end.

>258 Shadekeep: I guessed from some of your posts that we shared some collecting interests. I'm saving Treasure Island for a Christmas reading treat!

Oh my. The enormous Treasure Island has met its' match.

>257 TheTotalLibrarian: I think I recognise all except the green volume three from the right. What is that? Thanks!

>261 DMulvee: That one is: The Whittington Press: A Bibliography. 1982-93.

>259 TheTotalLibrarian: Good idea! I may do the same, especially if we finally get snowed in this year.

Some smaller format Golden Cockerels. Felt cute.

Same physical shelf as last time just updated. I’ve also updated the boxes for the Skaar works, to be a bit more economical on space. Boxes are made by Amy Borezo, who was the original binder for the each of the works. The insides have been adjusted on each to match the book, but still have the same outside dimensions. My initial commission request was terribly vague, so I’m really happy with how everything turned out. On the right is part of my collection of books with some nexus to Tideline Press, Grrrhhhh being a slight exception with the mini-book inside the deluxe being the actual related work.

Also net new are some Sutton Hoo / The Last Press books.

>265 ensuen: Interesting project with the Skaar books! I assume you kept the original displays and everything else included, just separate? Or were you able to incorporate anything like the Nansen map and artist statement into these as well?

>266 NathanOv: I’m keeping the original boxes intact, for the most part I didn’t want to try to recreate the original boxes and end up with the same size issue. The cases are also much more of a piece of the actual work compared to a lot of other presses, so I wanted to avoid damaging those.

The books I have tend to float around depending on space and how often I read them, so I wanted to be able to store them all on essentially what is my favorite bookshelf. I have the standard of Nansen’s Pastport, but I ended up buying a print of the map from her Bromer show, which I have in my display rotation. I only have the one copy of the artist statement, but want to maintain the option to move the books back and forth.

So great to see so many of my friends books on all your shelves!

Apologies for the double photo post. Sharing a new physical shelf. Includes the dueling books on Curwen press paper (In praise of patterned paper is the clear winner), rampant lions portfolios, some bookplate and printing books, NRP, collection, pink case is Amy Borezo’s New Ocean, and another part of my Tideline Press collection (the remainder does not shelve well, broadsides and an form factor.)

>269 ensuen: Is the book on the left ‘Wallpapers by Edward Bawden’? That is on my wish list. Could you explain why you prefer the Incline Press’ ‘In Praise of Patterned Paper’ as that hadn’t been on my radar? Thanks!

>270 DMulvee: The one of the left is “A New Specimen Book of Curwen Pattern Papers”. In praise of is a bit more personable, where the specimen one is a bit drier and focused more on the history

Reorganized so the Dante, Milton, and Goethe can be all in one place.

Here is my Melville shelfie - the search continues for more ...

>272 abysswalker: Yes, Tallone's Dante is a joy. I have the same bindings. Also 'Rime' and 'Convivio'.

>273 LBShoreBook: Love this. But missed opportunity to call it your “Melvie Shelfie”…;)

>273 LBShoreBook: Awesome. Might I ask which of those is your favorite?

>276 astropi: That's a good but difficult question, kind of like which is my favorite child (I have just one child, so that one's actually easier). In a fire I'd probably grab the Arion Press poems. Barry Moser, hand-made paper with the whale watermark. Pretty cool.

>273 LBShoreBook: I want that Bartleby so badly ...

>277 LBShoreBook: I'd probably grab the California Moby-Dick (I have both that and the Arion Press poems, though maybe none of the others). But it would be a tough call; the poems probably represents higher quality bookmaking, but Moby-Dick is the masterpiece and it's increasingly hard to find the California deluxe in collectible condition at a sub $1k price, and apart from the original Arion Press Moby-Dick it's probably my favorite edition of the novel.

>279 abysswalker: Yes, the CA full-sized edition is pretty nice. The Pennyroyal Billy Budd is also pretty cool with 13 Barry Moser prints but the binding is a bit utilitarian - like it (a lot) but it's not as unique as some of my other books although it is my most expensive Melville by quite a bit. The LEC Typee is really cool - tappa for the cover is a nice touch.

>272 abysswalker: What is the name of the Divine Comedy set of three that is to the left of the white Suntup edition on the second shelf? Also, what is the set of three to the left of the LEC version? Those are ones that I have not seen before.

>281 Zoopa: the set of three on the shelf next to the white Suntup was published by Grabhorn in 1958, translated by Lillie, unillustrated. Lovely paper.

The other tall set of three is published was Grossman in 1969, translated by Bergin, printed at the Stamperia Valdonega (Mardersteig's shop), and illustrated by Leonard Baskin (somewhat polarizing illustrations I gather, but I appreciate them). I posted a topic with pictures of the Grossman edition here some time ago.

>282 abysswalker: Thanks for the info. I already have the Grossman set, what I meant to ask about was the set of three left of the LEC version that all have individual slipcases.

I bought the Grossman set thinking it was roughly the same size as my Washington Square Press set, which is already much larger than the average book. I was poorly mistaken.

>283 Zoopa: oh sorry, that other one is the Tallone set in the original Italian with variant hardcover and quarter vellum binding (with vellum tips, so almost half vellum). Unillustrated.

Current order. Need more space. There are some valuable books hidden deep.

>285 Lukas1990: gorgeous! What’s that huge book with the gilt-bands on the top shelf next to the Herodotus in the second picture?

>286 sanvito: https://www.librarything.com/topic/367016#8870507

>287 mr.philistine: That Caxton book was an instant purchase!!

Not a lot of letter press, but a lot of well made copies and a couple letter press books.

Just unpacked after a move from Washington State to Colorado—here’s a shelf dedicated to the wealth of Pacific Northwest presses.

>290 zachp: Stop teasing us! What ARE they?

>290 zachp: Great selection from great presses. Barbarian, Greenboathouse, Nawakum and HM are all top tier!

>290 zachp: Handsome selection! I also note some Pegana Press, and on the shelf below a healthy number of No Reply titles, including the distinctive sci-fi trilogy. Like your tastes!

>293 Shadekeep: And Horse Whisper Press and Cascabel Press. The shelf below is all No Reply—also Pacific Northwest. Seeking Jack, The Hollow Men and The Most Efficient Language to complete the collection and then I'll post a pic—DM for a trade!

>294 zachp: Kudos on the almost-complete NRP line-up! I assume you also have the scarce Flamingo Heaven? I ended up donating my copy of that to Harvard so that they could complete their own NRP collection.

First I've heard of Horse Whisper Press. Are they still active? I'm not finding anything on Abe, but did find an auction listing that looks promising. Would be glad to hear recommendations from them.

Have heard of Cascabel Press but have been remiss about looking further into them. Shall do so now, thanks!

EDIT: Ah, Horse Whisper Press is the press of Apollonia Elsted, daughter of the Barbarian Press proprietors. Definitely need to hunt down her work now.

>295 Shadekeep: Ray Bidegain of Cascabel Press is a new member of Consensus Press.

>296 Glacierman: That's a hell-to-the-yeah right there.

>297 Shadekeep: I do not have Flamingo Heaven! I forgot about the "unnumbered chapbooks," of which this appears to be the only one I'm missing. I assume this and Jack are going to be impossible to find.

EDIT: Generous donating your personal copy!

>298 zachp: Flamingo Heaven and Jack are apparently the two rarest NRP titles out there, but all the same, good luck! Half the fun is in the seeking. ^_^

And I'm happy to send out portions of my collection to institutions. It's part of my evangelising on behalf of fine press. I think that more people should have access to these wonderful productions.

Ultimately, can any No Reply Press collection be said to be truly complete, unless it contains the No Reply Press Christmas Keepsake Ornament? 😄

The true NRP completist MUST have a copy of their edition of Self Reliance.

>300 Shadekeep: Or what about the No Reply Press branded mug, a 1 of 1??

>300 Shadekeep: Much like the One Ring, whoever holds this mug actually legally owns the press. Many men have been corrupted by it.

Zach has a better No Reply Press collection than I do. Luckily, the three he's missing are the three worst!

>301 Glacierman: That one sold out even before I could get a copy!

>305 grifgon: Dayum!!

>303 grifgon: My precious! Give it to us for our birthday, precious...

>301 Glacierman: Not to mention Swift on Swift….

A narrow shelf, with relatively narrow books too.

>309 EdmundRodriguez: Very attractive. Sinuhe shows up well amongst some fine company.

>309 EdmundRodriguez: Nice! How do you like that Officina Bodoni Overcoat?

>309 EdmundRodriguez: Good stuff, and I have a lot of those same titles, so you have excellent taste. ^_^

Who's the printer on that Weeds and Wild Flowers? That's my kinda thing too.

>312 Shadekeep: Weeds and Wild Flowers by Armida Maria-Theresa Colt was published under the imprint of Colt’s own Two-Horse Press, but the book was designed and printed by Will Carter at the Rampant Lions Press in Cambridge.

>313 Transfixed: Ah, so it is the Two-Horse edition! Thank you. I've been hunting for some work from that press. And of course RLP does sterling work, so it's worthwhile from that aspect as well.

>309 EdmundRodriguez: That ‘Typographia Naturalis’ is a fascinating book. I wish I still had my old copy.

>311 Lukas1990:

It's an excellent production. Feels very refined, precise and high quality. However, the dual language is wasted on me (and my one language).

>314 Shadekeep:
>309 EdmundRodriguez:
"Weeds and Wildflowers". What a beautiful book. Also happens to be #69 on the "A Century for the Century" list. A quote from the "Century" entry, "Will Carter and his talented son, Sebastian, have produced some of the finest typographic designs and presswork of postwar England - all from a surprisingly small workshop in their home. When their skills as printers were combined with the exceptional talents of wood engraver George Mackley, the results were extraordinary. Carter's meticulous printing brings out all the detail and beauty of Mackley's accomplished engravings. The delicate and refined Arrighi typeface is the perfect complement to Mackley's sensitive and detailed work."

This post is about the shelf itself rather than the books. Most of my books are in barrister style glazed stacking bookcases. I particularly love the character of the older ones, the reflections in the glass can be rather distorted (see door frame in photo below). I'm particularly fond of this bookcase which is (just) large enough to accommodate the LEC 'The Man Who Planted Trees' (17" tall).

>318 EdmundRodriguez: Very stylish, and I agree, the effect of the glass is quite pleasing. It lends the reflections an impressionist quality.

Finally got a little shelf for my nightstand to keep books I'll come back to often (mostly poetry or short stories I've enjoyed) and longer works I'm currently working through:

>320 blinks112: Nice. The big one lying down looks to me like Fire to Fire by Mark Doty from Sutton Hoo Press. If so, that's a good 'un for sure. Chad does good work.

>320 blinks112: Wonderfully eclectic mix, both in presses and in authors. Nice to see Larkspur and Awen represented there, along with newcomer Perfect Player. A fine selection!

>320 blinks112: Some very fine volumes that we have in common.

>320 blinks112: Very nice. I love the myriad of different bindings/sizes etc. I am particularly partial to books with the title on the spine presented on a label like "From California" in the middle; they really pop out but in a simple under-stated way.

>320 blinks112: blinks112 very nice books, beautiful. I also ordered The Most Dangerous Game.

What kind of edition are The Martian Chronicles?

>321 Glacierman: yes it is, and it was your review and pictures that led me to it (and other works by Chad) so thank you!

>323 ChestnutPress: Thank you! I believe it was you who gave me some details and thoughts on "In The Beginning" from Richard Wagner's Mixolydian Editions that helped me make the decision there, and it is one of my favorite pieces now that I own. I very often go back to it.

>325 Jeekelemental: Limited Editions Club from 1974! Quite a few copies out there, 2000 originally I believe.

>322 Shadekeep: Thank you! This community has been amazing, so much knowledge and sharing. I only bought my first fine press work in October of last year from one of the big, well known presses (Arion) and the community here has helped me learn about so many other great presses I otherwise would never have found. It's been a fun year of collecting!

>327 blinks112: I thought that was in there, next to the gorgeous ‘The Blue Roofs of Japan’. I’m really glad to have been of service in aiding you towards its purchase. It is a lovely example of the talents of both Bringhurst and Wagener. Do you have their other recent collaboration, the Barbarian Press ‘Ten Poems’?

>326 blinks112: I have fulfilled my role as enabler. I am content. ☺️

>330 ChestnutPress: Yes Blue Roofs was on your recommendation as well! I'm on the lookout for "Ten Poems" but haven't seen one come up for sale.

>332 blinks112: Best of luck finding a copy!

>320 blinks112: As a happy owner of all the Wendell Berry on this shelf and at least two of the poetry pieces published by the esteemed Mr Oness, I commend you on your taste!

>328 blinks112:
Just picked it up, chuffed. While there is no comparison either craft-wise or materials-wise the star pattern made me think of Lyra’s Stardust in the leather edition (which I shall never own).

EDIT
Couldn't work out how to successfully embed the "Shelfie" photo into a message, but it's in the profile gallery if anyone's interested to look.

>336 duncjl: I think that's the smallest omnibus I've ever seen

>336 duncjl: I've attached two screenshots showing the general form of it. Into this (between the first two single quotes) you paste the image's web address when viewing it singly from your LibraryThing gallery, gained by right-clicking and selecting 'Copy Image Link'





---
Edited for clarity.

>338 FitzJames: Thank you. I'd seen the basic formula from the wiki, but instead of the image link I was applying the metadata associated with the photo on my mobile. I guess that illustrates why I prefer books to machines!

>339 duncjl: As a web developer myself, this is an unnecessarily complicated process. If it was built properly you should just be able to upload directly into the post. It really isn't difficult to do, so I'm unsure why they've done it the way they have.

>340 AstulTheShepherd: i'd guess it's because the system is from long enough ago that forums wouldn't/couldn't be expected to self-host every image embedded in comments

>341 gmacaree: Which makes sense, but doesn't provide a great user experience. Makes my fingers twitch to fix it lol

9th attempt at uploading and... success!

>344 greenwald1: Lots of gems on that shelf! Very nice.

I have to ask though - Why is the Satyricon placed in between two of the No Reply sci-fi short stories, breaking up the collection? It’s really triggering my OCD 😅

>345 Nightcrawl: I don’t like having too much order in my bookshelves, even these I’ll probably mix up more but they match by height

It’s nice to have to browse my own shelves while looking for a book

>344 greenwald1: What’s the mystery volume next to the Pablo Neruda?

>344 greenwald1: Some very covetable titles here. If you ever get tired of Pale Fire, let me know...

>344 greenwald1: Great stuff! Where is that Symposium from?

>349 gmacaree: that’s the standard edition from Libanus. It’s one of my favorites, and think it’s a steal for what it usually costs (~$300).

There are two very different standard editions though, this quarter-leather version and one that is full cloth.

>347 kdweber: Cathay, Poems After Li Po by Ezra Pound from Limited Editions Club. There’s no writing on either the book or slipcase spines.

I just won it at auction last month and haven’t got around to actually reading it yet, but so far I like the unusual artwork and overall aesthetic.

>350 greenwald1: Are they different in any way beyond the bindings?

>352 kermaier: I haven’t seen the other in person so don’t know. I want to guess they are the same internally but very much just a guess. Externally they look very different, with this version much nicer.

I believe the cloth version doesn’t come with a slipcase either. And it’s a really nice slipcase.

>352 kermaier: I found a pic of the cloth version here:

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Symposium-by-Libanus-Press--PLATO/2900...

And there’s a couple copies of the quarter leather on abebooks if you want to see the side view. Or I can post some when I get home.

A shelfie to celebrate figuring out how to add a photo:

>355 duncjl: Delightfully eclectic spread there. Any volumes you are especially enamoured of?

>356 Shadekeep: Yes, no rhyme or reason to how my books are shelved. So Long Hot Metal Men is the a particular favourite, the finest type specimen book I've encountered; and I love the Gaylord Schanilec engravings in the Ayme. The Leo Wyatt is also a favourite as it's extra-illustrated with about 50 original Wyatt bookplates that I've assembled over the years.

>355 duncjl: Is the Robert Hill book the Rampant Lions Press one? That's a lovely book but try finding a copy online!

>358 LT79-1: Yes, it is the RLP tribute volume. Scientific subjects don't feature much in private press books, and I must confess three technical papers on photosynthesis are beyond me! But I collect the RLP so needs must...

>357 duncjl: So Long Hot Metal Men is the a particular favourite

That one does look intriguing, I noted it when checking out your picture. It does sound worth hunting down, I'm a fan of specimen books as well.

>357 duncjl: So Long Hot Metal Men

Sigh, I regret not purchasing Greg Walter's own copy at Garrett Scott's when it went on sale after his passing. I hope it was you who picked it up!

>361 yikou: Mine's a different copy and sourced in the UK. I'm not familiar with that dealer, he has some very desirable stock.

>355 duncjl: Several nice titles from Bird & Bull. The Private Pressman's Tale is a favorite!

>355 duncjl: What’s the John DePol book? I’m a fan of his work, especially for the Allen Press.

>364 kermaier: it's number 76 in this catalog: https://www.oakknoll.com/images/upload/cat887_2.pdf - each copy is slightly different as they were made from various pieces collected over time.

>364 kermaier: I'm an admirer too though most of the examples I have are his work for Neil Shaver's Yellow Barn Press. In the photo, it's a copy of the 2012 Bird & Bull Press Portfolio of Wood Engravings by John DePol. Several examples in an introductory booklet (plus one by Wesley Bates) and then 22 examples tipped onto individual sheets, including some printed by DePol himself. It's a beautiful set but only 99 copies.

>354 greenwald1: I really like the look of the quarter-leather version but I cannot see any on abebooks (I’ve checked and I am searching worldwide). Do you have a link to any? Thanks

>367 Opinacus: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Symposium-Translated-Introduction-Tom-Griffith-Engrav...

Really wasn’t difficult to find…

>368 ChestnutPress: my bad! But thanks

>367 Opinacus: There were more copies available until I posted my query above. Alas, that's par for the course around here....

>366 duncjl: I have a folder, produced by the Yellow Barn Press, containing examples of DePol's work for the Allen Press:



Laid in is this somewhat bizarre typewritten notecard, signed "j", followed by unbound pages containing an essay from the Allens about their relationship with John DePol. The text is interspersed with nine examples of his work for the Allen Press, including this engraving of their Albion:

>371 kermaier: That's a nice thing to have. Presumably the Godine book is Five Decades With the Burin. My Allen Press books are of an earlier vintage and whilst Mallette Dean's work is attractive I prefer DePol.

>371 kermaier: And continuing the theme, this is the DePol engraving of the Kelmscott-Goudy press:

>373 duncjl:

- How do you understand the construction and working principles of a hand press?
- I engrave them!

Finally finished a trio of Folio Society classical works - Polybius' The Rise of Rome has just arrived. This book was very expensive just a year ago, prices have dropped lately and it was an opportunity for me.

>375 Lukas1990: Do you actually have two copies of the GC The Labyrinth of the World, or is that a two-volume set I am unaware of?

>376 Shadekeep: Yes, that is a second copy of the same book. I own 2/70 of all the special bindings haha.

>377 Lukas1990: That seems...excessive. 😉

Still, hopefully it brings you twice the pleasure of owning just one!

>375 Lukas1990: Finally finished a trio of Folio Society classical works

Not sure I'd call these particular ones a trio, so I'd recommend to turn it into a quartet! :)
Check Lives of the Later Caesars. Same size, bound in FULL leather, silver top edges, multiple full-page wood engravings + wood engravings as chapter headpieces, map endpapers.

I broke the shelf into two parts for better viewing. Also replaced the butterfly book with something more apropos. It had been lurking in the dark in a cabinet with . . . . stuff. Just one shelf. There's more on the shelf above and in the bookcase on the west wall and then out in the "library building" in the back yard. Ran out of room in the (tiny) house.

Right click on image and open in a new tab for a larger image.





NOTE: Major edit/remodel of this post.

>380 Glacierman: Nice collection, happy to see the label for the Weiss book for the first time. I keep loosing track of the scale.

>380 Glacierman: A fine and ecumenical selection of works!

Some Bird & Bull, some shown before, some not. When I bought this shelf I had hopes it could store my whole set, but it seems I'm not very good at estimating. If you have any questions about a book or are looking to sell something that's not shown here feel free to reach out.

>383 ensuen: The alternating direction of the titles stresses me out much more than it should, why isn't this standardised!

Beautiful collection though!

>384 AstulTheShepherd: I think there's a British/US split in terms of how they are done in some cases. With the US, of course doing it the best way. If I could be more wasteful with shelf height, it kind of goes by year who was used for binding.

Edit: Thank you for the note on the collection too, B&B did a lot of great work and I'm happy to be able to own some of it.

>383 ensuen: looks like you have a few books on paper there. Any particular favourites?

>383 ensuen: So handsome as a group; I don't think I've more than 4 or 5 sitting side-by-side on any one shelf. I feel some housekeeping is necessary! Just some specific collector questions: presumably the Peking Street Peddlers is a bespoke solander box, and The Paper Maker has been re-backed? Sixth from top right, is that Our Weekend With Oak Knoll?

>385 ensuen: I'd always argue top to bottom makes the most sense as any sane left->right reader would peruse left to right and therefore would stand on the left and tilt your head right. But I may be overthinking it.

After a quick Google it seems the English speaking world does it this way, whereas continental Europe does it bottom to top (wrong).

>387 LT79-1: if you have a particular area of interest let me know, otherwise the ones that are more narrative/fun focused are my favorite. Of those: The Bird and Bull Commonplace Book / Bird and Bull Pepper Pot / Five on Paper probably win. In terms of decorated paper: Roller Printed Paste Papers is a must buy and if you like marbled paper Spanish Marbling / Karl Frigge are worth looking into. The paper maker is a survey he did of some hand mills with samples that may be of note. A lot of the others are reprints of other work.

>388 duncjl: You have an excellent eye, 95% correct on all fronts. It is a weekend with Oak Knoll on the first shelf.

The solander does appear to be custom, I bought a few B&B books from a bookseller that had custom boxes for each and have the other ~2 stored separately for now. But there's an extra print in the Peking Street Peddlers that I wanted to keep together. I generally prefer to keep boxes as issued, but if a previous owner wanted to take the time to add a cover or something I try to leave it on where practical/safe.

The binding for the paper maker is original - but there's a written note in the colophon with "H.M. copy / VARIANT BIND / - BLACK SPINE" (I think this the binders writing). A note dated June 6, 1997 is written below from Henry Morris. The paste paper boards are standard, with the red brushed pattern and text stamping.

>390 ensuen: no specific interests, I'm just always on the lookout for paper catalogues or books featuring a wide array of papers. And thanks for all the recommendations. I'll keep an eye out for Roller Printed Paste Papers. It's just a shame these books are not as readily available in the UK.

>389 AstulTheShepherd: For me, bottom to top is easier to read, because I can read most such spines without having to tilt my head. With top to bottom I usually have to tilt my head slightly to the right as you wrote. This may, of course, be because I am more used to bottom to top as I live in continental Europe and am old enough to remember when that arrangement was standard here. But things change and now most publishers in my country have embraced the American approach, so I have a mix of both on my shelves. Which isn't a bad thing - I don't like my shelves to be too uniform :)

The top to bottom arrangement definitely makes sense when books are laid flat, e.g when stacked in a store window. The spine and front cover are then visible simultaneously. I think it also works better for Instagram and for promotional photos in general.

Pretty new to fine press books, so my collection is pretty heavily weighted towards a certain press at the moment.

>394 kreekree: Any notes on Entropy's bed at midnight? Looks like an interesting book.

>385 ensuen: I think there's a British/US split in terms of how they are done in some cases.

Not the US vs the UK thing. Both countries more or less settled on the top to bottom approach only in the 80s. Before that it was common to see it done either way in both countries. And even in the later years there've been exceptions. For example, Westvaco (West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, obviously American) used the bottom to top approach into the early 2000s.

In the continent - France, Germany, USSR/Russia, etc. - it's been mostly bottom to top.

>389 AstulTheShepherd: I'd always argue top to bottom makes the most sense as any sane left->right reader would peruse left to right and therefore would stand on the left and tilt your head right.

Not sure I'd agree - yes, any left-to-right reader would peruse the shelves starting on the left, but if the spines run top to bottom, you tilt your head right, if they run the other way you tilt your head left - either way you're reading titles left to right. But as we read left to right, top to bottom, the Continental way is actually more natural: considering starting on the left of the shelf and tilting the head to the left, imagine the shelf as a stack of titles - you'd be reading it left to right, top to bottom. In the Anglo-American way you'd be reading the titles from the bottom of the stack up - the unnatural way.

So, the Continental orientation is actually more natural in terms of bookshelves. The Anglo-American orientation is better for coffee table books - if you place a book on a table front board up, the spine will run normally. If you place a continental book on a table, the spine will be upside down.

>395 ensuen: It's actually very nice first edition of the story. Signed by Simmons on the title page. Mine is one of the deluxe copies mentioned in the colophon. Lord John did several first editions of his short stories (I learned of them on this board). The printing is great and the paper is very textured and has this interesting blue speckling that I'm not sure will come through in the photos (it smells great, too). I will probably hunt down the rest of their Simmons editions eventually.

>389 AstulTheShepherd:
>396 elladan0891: "the Continental orientation is actually more natural in terms of bookshelves"

The American way makes more sense to me on bookshelves as well, given that otherwise if the book is on its side with the cover facing up (standard horizontal shelving as well as for coffee table books) the continental approach also has the title upside down. Madness!

This all sounds very shallow to me. My books go in a pile on the floor facing the way they land.

>399 LT79-1: I snorted at this, kudos.

>399 LT79-1: My Man!!!! As it should be!

>398 abysswalker: when you store books horizontally on top of each other on a bookshelf, it's irrelevant whether the front board goes up or down. Nobody sees it.

>401 SuttonHooPress: obviously not your books Chad. They're stacked next to my beloved vinyl collection.

>394 kreekree: And an excellent choice of press to focus on, as well as some brilliant choices from within it. It's nice to see a fellow collector with Per Se Phone (along with the recent Beowulf from Books Illustrated, the Century Press The Crocodile, and the debut Perfect Player Press title).

With regards to title orientation, I shelve my books with the slipcase spine facing out, so the titles rarely obtain unless printed thereupon. My shelves thus present a kind of blank slate of colored slabs.

>383 ensuen: Very nice collection of B&B books. Man, you've got The Handmade Papers of Japan, Chiyogami, China, AND the Three Crosses! I've only ever handled those four in a library, but they really made an impression. Several I've only seen a couple copies for sale in the last 5 years. Really glad to see someone dedicated to collecting Bird & Bull. Probably the only one I have that I don't see here is Nagashizuki.

>403 LT79-1: Oh no, Brother: toss em around your room, your car, your sailboat. Keep 'em close, reading them frequently and variously. Work 'em, test their spines, bump their boards and bend creases in their covers. Spill on them and handle them when your fingers bleed or are stained with oil. Future generations will never know what's important to us if we don't show their use. . . !

>403 LT79-1: Just don't turn the page corners down to mark your place. That's the mark of a heathen.

Oh! I remodeled my shelfie post above (>380 Glacierman:).

>406 SuttonHooPress: Too right! We can handle our books with kid gloves but they need to be enjoyed!

>407 Glacierman: I don't even use a bookmark, I just remember the page number.

>408 LT79-1: Then you are truly a gentleman and a scholar. I bow to you, good sir.

>408 LT79-1: Same with me on no bookmark and I always complete a chapter (slight OCD; chapter numbers are easier to remember than page numbers). Although, at my age, I’ve been known to reread most of a chapter before realizing I’d already read it.

>410 EdwinDrood: I'm currently reading Seven Gothic Tales, there are no chapters in it, you just have to randomly stop somewhere. It's rather an odd experience.

>411 AstulTheShepherd: You should attempt some Terry Pratchett next.

>410 EdwinDrood: I find stopping mid-sentence is best for memory rather than these round up points for me personally. I remember the abrupt stops.

And yes, not just rereading chapters, I've just read through the same book three times in a row. It really starts to open up when you do that.

On the subject of memory I picked up all sorts of interesting tips from The Art of Memory by Frances Yates.

>405 DenimDan: I've only had my copy of Nagashizuki for several weeks so was reading it for the first time today. As the colophon states, most of the handmade B & B paper is watermarked "Nagashizuki" but I love the attention to detail and Morris's subtle tribute to the author that some of the sheets are watermarked "Baretto-san".

My shelves are mostly arranged by size x theme (as most are reference, rather than literature), so there is not really a shelf at present with even a preponderance of fine press. However, I was inspired by the B&B conversation to post one shelf – or, well, an attempt at a shelf for Vignettes. I'm very thankful to have found a copy locally.

I present one image for scale (with some other assorted B&B titles mixed in) and then actual way I store it (in the provided box with padding).





I know two people who worked on the gigantic Midnight Paper Sales edition of My Mighty Journey (a dream acquisition, for sure) and they say that their contributor copy is hardly shelved, as well.

>415 yikou: I'd love a copy of that. I have a similar problem with my copy of Nicolas Louis Robert and His Endless Wire Papermaking Machine, which is just flat in a bedroom chest of drawers; along with John Grice's Punctuation (Evergreen Press) neither of which are shelvable.

>416 duncjl: Hopefully a copy finds its way across the pond to you! I wasn't aware Nicolas Louis Robert and His Endless Wire Papermaking Machine was a large one – I had always assumed based on pictures it was one normal sized book with a small insert.

>415 yikou: Just as Henry Morris suggested! The only book I still own that is totally un-shelvable is A Vision of Order from the Whittington Press, which is something of a hassle for me.

>417 yikou: Yes the book is normal size but it's dwarfed in a very large clamshell box necessary to accommodate the portfolio of Robert's drawings.

>418 DenimDan: The bookstore I bought Broadside Vignettes from also has Whittington Press' poster collection (both A & C editions) – would be fun to own some day.

>413 LT79-1: your comment reminded me of this quote by the master:

“Curiously enough, one cannot read a book: one can only reread it. A good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader is a rereader.”

- Vladimir Nabokov

>421 greenwald1: I always enjoy Nabokov's recommendations. I first heard of Bely's Petersburg through him. A fine press take on that could be something very special.

And I agree with him on the rereading. Especially the creative part.

A bit of organized chaos

1 shelf
34 presses
57 books
1 non-letterpress

>423 greenwald1: what printing of the Rubaiyat is that?

>424 Taishan: it’s by Rampant Lions Press (under the Primrose Press name)

It consists of 24 very cool woodcuts and an introduction, but no text otherwise (something I only realized after purchasing - but I still like the book).

>423 greenwald1: Great selection. Where did you get the slipcases for Ur-Fascism and The Descent of Ishtar from? I’d love to get hold of some slipcases for those.

>423 greenwald1: The Phoenix is a wonderful book (even upside down!); the calligraphy is almost like incisions on stone and the whole thing has an ancient vibe in harmony with the text

Carter said in A Printer's Dozen that the RLP would never print a Rubaiyat and I guess this one doesn't break his word.

>423 greenwald1: Nice shelf! Which Frankenstein is that?

>423 greenwald1: details on At the Mountains of Madness? I thought I had just about every letterpress Lovecraft in existence but that one is new to me.

>428 Opinacus: Thornwillow

swapped out one book to another shelf - take a guess on which title was swapped in...

>431 Sport1963: if it’s the one I think it is …

>431 Sport1963: A fine gathering. Life of David in particular is a favorite of mine. Looks like you employ a lot of dura-lar artistry too. I don't see cloth spines wrapped much. What's your philosophy on what to wrap? I typically only wrap pre-1960 high-quality leather (my logic being it will most likely be someone else's issue by the time it degrades!) and vellum over boards. I leave cloth & limp vellum alone. But everything I have is behind glass in dark rooms, so little exposure in most areas. Always love hearing other archival and perseveration strategies though.

>431 Sport1963: Top class, Sir!

>432 sanvito: hint: shelving is alphabetical by publisher...

>433 dotman: There is no direct (or indirect) sunlight in my library, but I still tend to wrap almost everything in dura-lar. It's a carry-over from when I was an avid collector of trade firsts and DJ condition is so critical to collectibility. A conservationist at Dartmouth's Rauner Special Collections Library along with a friend of mine who worked at the Folger Library also suggested it as a good way to minimize binding soiling and rubbing. Limp vellum is a bit more challenging to appropriately wrap and I'll go to a .003" sheet from a .005" sheet. I'm fortunate to have special filtering in the room to minimize (but not eliminate) dust and keep humidity fairly constant in a 40-46% range. Given the hygroscopic nature of vellum - that's a big deal, particularly in frigid Minnesota winters, when the rest of the house is at about 25% humidity. My most valuable books go behind glass, but I'm limited to about 50 linear feet of glass enclosed shelving.

Very cool to hear your (carefully thought out) insights on this. You have some impressive friends! We have very similar approaches with light & dust & moisture. I approach from the antiquarian angle so we've similar paths also (along w my near-as-cold Iowa winters). I'm grateful for, yet also curse the day dlphcoracle mentioned dura-lar on these threads - if it was as easy as Brodart I'd have practically every book I have in it. But even with a rotary trimmer, just such a time commit to fashion those sleeves!

>431 Sport1963: That is definitely my sort of shelf - bravo!

I'm interested in the different flavours of boxes for the Gregynogs and Gwasg Gregynogs. Are any of them your own commissions, or did they come to you in that sort of variety? Also, are the Story of Heledd and Parzival the special bindings by any chance? I had always believed the former's special binding only had a plain card slipcase, but I've never seen a picture of the Parzival special binding box.

Also I did a double-take with the Cranach Song of Solomon, as I commissioned an identical-looking (at least as far as the backstrip is concerned - is it full leather?) box for my copy (the Latin version) from James Brockman. I was trying for an homage to the iconic red morocco Dorfner binding - it looks like I wasn't the only one with that idea!

Sorry, that turned out to be rather a lot of questions!

>436 dotman: Some of the good folks at the Minnesota Center for the Books Arts (MCBA) were kind enough to teach me "dura-lar wrapping techniques". Like most anything, with repetition and practice (I wrapped my entire LEC collection) I improved and there are very few bindings that I will not tackle. There are exceptions - I have several books that are exquisitely bound in full vellum over boards by Frieda Thiersch that do not lend themselves to wrapping due to a thin 3mm vellum ridge that actually partially covers the fore-edge of the text block. I tried to take a photo of her binding to illustrate but my photographic skills are terrible (I am committed to improving them - repetition and practice).

>438 BillWoodbridge: Three are commissions: "Heledd", "The History of Saint Louis", and the Cranach "Cantique des Cantiques". The Cranach solander is full morocco (picture below) and I was going for the same aesthetic as you. Both pieces were done by binder/conservationist Matthew Lawler Zimmerman. You can see some great examples of Matthew's work here:
https://www.matthewlawlerzimmerman.com/
Scroll to the bottom of his web page and you can get a much better view of the "Saint Louis" box. Matthew also crafted the Ashendene "Don Quixote" solanders that are displayed for me.

The rest of the boxes are as-acquired, some of which have very interesting provenance stories. The "Heledd" book is a standard binding and the "Parzival" of one-off commission binding (I did not commission it). Pic of the "Parzival" binding also included below.

>439 Sport1963: Beautiful.

>439 Sport1963: Thanks so much, very interesting. Not a name I was familiar with, but Matthew Lawler Zimmerman's work looks first-class. Also, I remember seeing a picture of that one-off Parzival binding a few years ago, and thinking it shared some of its DNA with the 'standard' special binding (by James Brockman).

Just to reciprocate Cranach-wise:





The plan, in theory, is to acquire its cousins: a Dorfner-bound Hamlet and a Prade-bound Eclogues and give them similar treatments. In my dreams!

>441 BillWoodbridge: With apologies for the digression (and please feel free to ignore the question) but how do you decide between what becomes stock and what finds its way into your private collection? Unless the latter has very tightly defined parameters I envisage an awful lot of soul-searching being endured!

>442 duncjl: Ah, good question! And you’ve mostly answered it I think, in that my own collection (which now also serves as a reference source for the business when researching acquisitions, writing descriptions, answering customer questions etc) does have a very tightly-defined scope. And (nearly) always I can resist the temptation to stretch that scope by indulging in crossovers from business acquisitions. As the famous saying goes, albeit from a different sphere of commerce, ‘Never get high on your own supply’. Or not too often anyway.

It helps that when it comes to collecting, I do like to see some structure whether I’m going all-out ‘completist’ for a particular press, or at least well-defined subsets (for example, illustrated Gibbings-era books of the Golden Cockerel Press, or Doves Press poetry). I do cheat a little with a miscellaneous ‘high spots’ desiderata list to cover things like, for example, the Merrymount Book of Common Prayer (as there’s no way I want to start a Merrymount collection), but on the whole I’m not comfortable with the scattergun ‘cabinet of curiosities’ approach. I hasten to add that that’s merely my personal inclination and both approaches are valid, but at least my approach helps when having to resist the temptation of a gorgeous book that comes in for trade, but doesn’t fit in my collecting scope.

There were some particular choices I had to make early on as they were so obvious if the business was ever to get off the ground, notably to not attempt to collect Whittington or Fleece Press books personally, much as I’d have liked to. (John Randle once told me that the only Whittington completist he knew (I mean a full-fat completist: all books, all commissions, all variants, all ephemera …) lost his money, his wife and his house in that order.)

Which isn’t to say there isn’t a fair amount of intersection between the field I collect and the field I sell. For example (commercial break) I’ve just acquired a nice bundle of Gwasg Gregynogs for trade, all of which I know and love very well since I also have copies in my own collection (/commercial break). But as a general rule my collection tends towards older 20th century ‘classic’ private presses, and the books I sell tend the other way.

>443 BillWoodbridge: Thank you, that was very interesting and kind of you to reply so fully.

I am very much of the 'scattergun' type but wish I wasn't. At the start of every month I resolve just to buy 2 or 3 choice items from my mental wish list; but things appear on eBay or at 7a.m.(!) on ABE and by the end of the month I've purchased perhaps a dozen lesser-value items, most of which were never even on my radar!

Look forward to seeing what Gregynog's start appearing.

>428 Opinacus: it’s the Thornwillow basic paper edition

>426 Lexkex: sorry for the late reply, I made them myself

>429 Another_Bibliomane: that’s the one non-letterpress book on the shelf. It’s one of a series of nine HPL chapbooks that Chiroptera issued a few years before the hardback compendiums.

It’s hard to find even a nice non-letterpress edition of Mountains of Madness, which is a shame. I like this one, though I’d love to see a fine press version.

Centipede has had a letterpress edition in the works for as long as I’ve been a collector. Hopefully it’s not too far off, but also only 100 copies iirc. I suspect not many would make it past subscribers.

>447 greenwald1: not Mountains of Madness, but Angel Bomb has a nice letterpress edition of The Beast in the Cave (https://www.angelbomb.com/the-beast-in-the-cave)

Some of my books, mainly bound by Ludlow. The greenish book second from the left is Angel Bomb's Who Goes There. I now need to find The Things to complete that little set. All are letterpress except The Road. I bought that as a book block and had it bound, which was a fun and interesting experience.

>449 AjaJin: Very nice! Would love to see the binding on The Road.

>450 Nightcrawl: I've never had a rebind (or bind, in this case) done, but looked around and found Gerald Ward (Bibliopathologist.com). We exchanged some emails, and got started on design ideas. Gerald is great to work with, and very responsive. He provides lots of feedback, and even has digital visualizations of potential options. The book arrived today, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It's every bit as good as any of the books on my shelf. The fabric on the book is not as gray as I'd envisioned and looks much more tan in the pictures (I picked the materials for the book), but it has lots of interesting color highlights that I can't capture with my phone camera. It looks great in person. Very pleased and proud to utilize this one on my shelf.

Special thanks to Paul Suntup for his permission to use "Sunup Editions" on the case. Very much appreciated.

>449 AjaJin: A very restful, inviting shelf. The spines of Blood Meridian and Treasure Island are a touch too busy for my taste especially given their companions. The other spines/slipcases/boxes, including The Road which I guess you designed, are much more pleasing to my eye.

>450 Nightcrawl: Likewise, and to hear of your experience with the whole commissioning process if you are willing to share.

>449 AjaJin: You beat me to it !

>451 AjaJin: Gorgeous binding, very thoughtfully designed. Thanks for sharing!

>449 AjaJin: that’s beautiful!

I’m working toward rebinding a textblock of The Road for myself. I did some leather dying experiments this past weekend that pointed me in an interesting direction, and I have an idea for endpapers that I’m kind of excited about.

6 months of amaetur fine press collecting (non-fine press used as bookends.)

>456 7om: Got anymore of those pixels?
I can spot a Dune, Neuromancer from Gollancz, FS Neuromancer LE, CTP Foundation?

>457 A.Godhelm: Is that better? I am unsure how to upload a higher quality rez picture.

>458 7om: Much better. Now we can judge you properly.

>459 A.Godhelm: Doubly yay!

>456 7om: Looks like a busy 6 months! How are you choosing what to collect? According to LibraryThing, I've been collecting for nearly 8 years and have maybe just under twice as many books as you have on that shelf lol

Also, some of those books could only be purchased online (like the CTP foundations), but have you also visited any physical bookshops carrying fine press books?

>461 921Jack: I have to admit I have been following this forum closely and a lot of my purchases has been inspired by posts here. My preferences has moved over the months too; at first I was deciding based on appearance and LibraryThing reviews, now I mostly aquire poetry and such, preferably direct from the publisher or the printer, and else everything through eBay/Abe. I have never been to a bookshop with fine press books, unfortunately, there is no such place in my area.

There used to be a place called Joseph the Provider in Santa Barbara when I was in school there. I almost passed out when I saw all of the first editions of Weldon Kees' poetry books. I was too poor to buy them then. I think he had a lot of fine press stuff. anyone know if it is still there?

>462 7om: Where did you get that hardback copy of "Holding the Air"? That's one of my favs. . . .

>464 SuttonHooPress: I bought it from Kubik Fine Books. It was the only copy I could find on the Internet so I snatched it up!

>463 SuttonHooPress: Chad, according to the California Secretary of State, the company status is "terminated" and the date it went inactive is 10/11/2016. It appears they have long since bit the dust.

>456 7om: A wonderful collection already! No better place to start in the fine press world than with Sutton Hoo Press.

>467 grifgon: Can't argue that! Those books are some of the high points in my little collection.