Albert Sperisen Library

Celebrating the art of fine printing and bookmaking, as well as the history, literature, and art of California and the West. About the Albert Sperisen Library The Book Club of California Ask Us a Question View Our Tumblr Archive

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Saint Francis Preaches to the Birds

By Peter Schumann; Janus Press, 1978

Like the Roman god for whom it is named, Claire Van Vliet’s Janus Press looks to the past in producing traditionally structured books and looks forward with experiments in new binding structures. This volume is printed from hand-carved relief plates which were then hand-colored.

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The Man With the Hoe, by Edwin Markham. Written after Seeing Millet’s World-Famous Painting ‘So God Made Man in His Own Image, the Image of God Made He Him. Genesis 1:27.’

The second book published by the Book Club of California.  The decoration on the title page and two opening initials are in red, and each page is printed within blue rules. Printed by John Henry Nash on handmade paper in handset Original Old Style Italic and Caslon Old Style. The frontispiece portrait and repeated decorative border are by Ray F. Coyle. 1916.

Accompanying the book is a photograph by Gabriel Moulin of Millet’s famous picture which inspired the poem. This is tipped in a four-page sepia folder with text on the first page within a floral border in blue, rules in gold, printed by John Henry Nash. As the folder for the Moulin photograph is a trifle larger than the book itself it could not be laid in. Consequently it got separated from the parent volume and mislaid; hence its scarcity today. Two letters from Edwin Markham to Albert M. Bender were printed (single folded sheets). One gives permission to the Club to use his poem and the other asks that a change “after all these years” be made in The Man with the Hoe. The author was delighted with this new presentation of his most famous poem. In a copy inscribed for W. R. K. Young, now in the Club library, he wrote: “... the HOE-man and I now make our grateful—if not graceful—bow as a slight recognition of the high honor that you and your literary circle have conferred upon us. We have appealed to Oberon to send his fairies to dance with dreams upon your nightly pillow ...”

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Landscape Prints of Old Japan, from the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century to the Middle of the Nineteenth Century.  Introduction and Descriptive Text by Jack Hillier.

The 106th book published by the Book Club of California. Printed by the Grabhorn Press in Centaur monotype on machine made paper.  The title is in red and black, with a half-title in red. The book includes fifty numbered plates (one double spread and one triptych), of which forty-nine are in color. 1960.

This is the second BCC book showcasing illustrations taken original Japanese prints in the collection of Edwin and Marjorie Grabhorn. Because of the limitation in the number of copies of the previous volume (Figure Prints of Old Japan) and the resulting disappointment of some Club members in not acquiring copies, this book was printed in a run of 450 copies, at considerable effort by the Grabhorn Press. It too was fully subscribed on publication. Included in the Exhibition of Western Books (Rounce & Coffin Club).

Koryusai left the life of a samurai to move to Edo and train as a painter before switching his focus to printmaking and becoming one of the most prolific artists of ukiyo-e works.  He produced both individual images and series. The peachy-orange shade on the paws of the brown rabbit is distinctive of his art.

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Physiologus: the Very Ancient Book of Beasts, Plants, and Stones, Translated from Greek and Other Languages by Francis J. Carmody.

The eighty-fifth book published by the Book Club of California. Printed by Mallette Dean in French Elzevir, handset, on mold made paper. The title is in red and black, and the book has fifty-four illustrations, including those on title and half-title, all drawn and hand-colored by Mallette Dean. There are hand-colored initials throughout, some decorative. Marginal headings and printer’s device on colophon are in red. It is bound in white parchment with an over-all decorative pattern in grey-blue, with the title in red on the spine. 1953.

This handsome book took a year to print. Much of the time, of course, was consumed in hand-coloring the illustrations. One enthusiastic member from Chicago wrote: “In many respects Physiologus is the most exciting book to go on my shelf... I salute the Deans and the great state of California that has done and is doing so much toward maintaining the art of bookmaking at a high level.” Included in the Exhibition of Western Books (Rounce & Coffin Club).

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The Coppa Murals: A Pageant of Bohemian Life in San Francisco at the Turn of the Century. By Warren Unna, with an introduction by Joseph Henry Jackson.

The eightieth book published by the Book Club of California. Printed by Adrian Wilson at the Sign of the Interplayers in Centaur monotype on machine made paper. The title and colophon are in red and black; chapter headings and numbers, and pagination are all in red. Eight reproductions of photographs within red rules. The in red pictorial boards were designed by Mallette Dean. 1952.

Coppa’s Restaurant—the one destroyed in the earthquake and fire of 1906— was a famous hangout for the bohemian set in San Francisco at the turn of the century. Artists who frequented the place made murals for its walls. This book is the story behind these murals, the identification of their painters and in general the history of Coppa’s and its patrons. The frieze of black cats, reproduced here to adorn the flyleaves and chapter headings, was the work of Xavier Martinez, friend of Gelett Burgess, Porter Garnett and a host of others who combined to make their favorite restaurant a place of great originality. Included in the Exhibition of Western Books (Rounce & Coffin Club).

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The Vintage Festival: A Play Pageant & Festivities Celebrating the Vine in the Autumn of Each Year at St. Helena in the Napa Valley. By Sara Bard Field. 

The eleventh book published by the Book Club of California. Printed by John Henry Nash in Cloister Old Style, handset, on handmade paper. The frontispiece and floral border on the title page are by Ray F. Coyle. Both the opening initial and the marginal titles are in red.  1920.

Field took up poetry later in life; throughout her adulthood she was a determined suffragist, campaigning throughout the western states and nationally for women’s suffrage. 

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Paul Landacre, by Ward Ritchie. 

The 169th publication of the Book Club of California.  Designed by Ward Ritchie, with 600 copies for the Book Club of California printed at the Castle Press by George Kenney in Goudy Thirty, handset, on machine made paper. It includes sixteen engravings, many printed directly from the original blocks and one ornamental initial in green, and the endpapers reproduce one additional engraving. Bound in green, tan and black decorated boards (eight small engravings) with black cloth back, title in gold on back.  1982.

Landacre is now regarded as one of this country’s finest wood engravers, although his early career was a struggle. Ritchie, as both a friend and a patron, is particularly qualified to write this appraisal and appreciation. Included in the Exhibition of Western Books (Rounce & Coffin Club). This is the third book supported by the Special Fund established at The Book Club of California in memory of Dorothy and David Magee.

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A Papermaking Pilgrimage to Japan, Korea and China.

Dard Hunter.

New York: Pynson Printers, 1936.

Woodcut depicting the gampi plant. Paper mulberry and mitsumata are also illustrated in woodcuts; additionally, the book has 65 photogravure images.

Hunter saw an exhibit on papermaking and printing during a visit to the London Science Museum in 1911, and he was inspired. At the time, there were no producers of handmade paper in the United States, and Hunter decided there should be. Within two years he had a paper mill of his own, powered by a water wheel. In the following decades he travelled the world, researching papermaking, and writing over twenty books about his studies.  A fuller biography is available from the Dard Hunter Studios.

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LJS 413 -  [Nuzhat al-qulūb]

This is a copy of a 14th-century historical and geographical work, Nuzhat al-qulūb [in English: Heart’s bliss]. It was written in India, probably between 1575 and 1625 CE. It contains geographical charts, discussions about minerals, plants, animals, and humankind. 

If this is not enough, there is additional information here! 

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The Song of Songs, Being Love Lyrics from Ancient Palestine. 

Translated by Morris Jastrow, with a preface by Helen B. Jastrow and an introduction by Franz Cumont. 1922.

The eighteenth book published by the Book Club of California. It was printed by the Grabhorn Press in handset Goudy Antique type in red and black. The blue initials are by Joseph Sinel and the opening page illustration, shown above, is by Harold von Schmidt. 

Unfortunately, Dr. Jastrow, the eminent Hebrew scholar, did not live to see his translation of The Song of Songs in this handsome format. In January of 1923 the American Institute of Graphic Arts held the first of its “Fifty Books of the Year” exhibitions. This volume was among the selections. 

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Habitué

Scripps College Press

Each semester a class at Scripps collaborates on a book, beginning with the choice of theme and moving on to write, design, print, and bind the completed work. Habitué is built upon the idea of repetition and an exploration of “the habitual everyday things that one does that define your identity.”

By Maia Ashkenazi-Cnanny, Elizabeth Balch, Alexis Ding, Mina Hoffman, Donielle Kaufman, Sara Kendall, Samantha Morales, Michele Murphy, Paige Pauly, and Yoshie Sakai, overseen by Professor Kitty Maryatt.

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Ranjitsinhji’s 9,000 Elephants Visit Serendipity Books

By Ian Jackson and Ann Arnold

“Ranjitsinhji’s 9,000 elephants had really enjoyed wrecking Black Oak Books. They were all sorry when they had to go, but there was nothing left to destroy.”

Inspired by a nonsense verse about Ranjitsinhji, an “Indian majaraja and cricketer” which describes him as keeping nine thousand elephants. This book is one of a series done for a young reader who wanted to know what would happen if all those elephants were to visit Berkeley!

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The Epilogue

Sarah Dix Hamlin School Yearbook for 1946

The Senior Horoscope appears in many issues of The Epilogue, but this is the most detailed one in the BCC Library, and the only one in which a contributor predicts her future self as being in possession of billions of rabbits. Classes with these girls must have been fun.

Photos, clockwise from upper left: Mona Lyman, Barbara Hulme, Dodi Woods, Elaine Scarsi, Jill Buckland.

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The Hobby Horse, one of the earliest magazines to focus on visual arts, design, and printing from a scholarly perspective, was published from 1884-1894. The Century Guild of Artists was a group of artists and art devotees with strong connections to the Arts and Crafts Movement and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.  Number 5 is on now display in the Albert Sperisen Library of the Book Club of California.

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‘Linotype data of all kinds for information as to history, accomplishments, etc.’ holds a wealth of correspondence addressed to the Mergenthaler Linotype Company, as well as carbons copies of their return letters, typescript of speeches delivered to the firm, and newspaper clippings. [Mergenthaler Linotype Company, 1918] #bccbooks #bookclubofcalifornia #albertsperisenlibrary #specialcollections #linitype (at The Book Club of California)

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Wildflowers of California // Meadow-Foam -- Flarkea Douglasii