[Village Press- Extremely Rare, 1/40 Copies, With Two Authentic Bookplates by Truesdell] A Booklet Devoted to the Book Plates of Elisha Brown Bird

New York: Village Press, 1907.

First edition. Original green laid paper over boards, Japan vellum spine, with cover roundel "EB." The rarest of all Village Press books, this is the special Japan Vellum issue, Limited to 40 Copies Only." The Colophon reads, "This edition of Elisha Brown Bird, His Book Plates, printed for Winfred Porter Truesdell, Arlington, Massachusetts, consists of one hundred and ten copies on Van Gelder handmade paper and forty copies on Japan vellum. The text has been composed by Bertha M. Goudy, in Village type designed by Frederic W. Goudy, and printed by them at the Village Press, New York, in September, 1907." This is copy No. 5, signed by Truesdell. Two bookplates (both examples of Truesdell's) include the actual examples, that is, they are not reproductions. Slight bumping to corners, near fine. "The book devoted to the book plates of E.B. Bird is easily a marked example of the artistic in bookmaking, since it has been printed at the Village Press and has the distinguishing earmarks of the his notable private press. The Goudy type has been used and the photogravure illustrations reproduce the book plates themselves very faithfully and brilliantly" (The Independent).

Price: $1,250.00   Item #4980