ESSEX HOUSE PRESS: TENNYSON, Alfred, Lord.. Maud.. London: Essex House Press, 1905, 1905.

Price: US$2254.46 + shipping

Description: First Essex House Press edition, number 38 of 125 copies only, each printed on vellum and hand-coloured, with a frontispiece by Reginald Savage and Laurence Housman in collaboration, cut by Clarence Housman. Tennyson's poem was first published in Maud, and Other Poems in 1855, his first collection after becoming poet laureate in 1850. The illuminations to this work were carried out by Anastasia Power. Power was a student of Douglas Cockerell and ran the Essex House bindery from the summer of 1902 until 1905. She was "an accomplished artist and calligrapher" and practised illumination with Fred Partridge alongside her role as binder (Dowd, p. 61). She consequently provided the illumination for much of the Press's output at this time. The Essex House Press was founded by Charles Robert Ashbee and Laurence Hodson following the closure of William Morris's Kelmscott Press in 1897 and "came from the heart of the arts and crafts movement" (Franklin, p. 64). Ashbee bought the Kelmscott Press's Albion printing presses after William Morris's death, and employed one of the Kelmscott compositors, Thomas Binning. This copy has the discreet bookplate of the noted London lawyer, golfer, and book collector Frank Robert "Bobby" Furber (1921-2016) loosely inserted, as well as the bookplate of one R. D. Hirschfeld on the front pastedown. Franklin, p. 244; Ransom, Essex House Press 58. Anthony Dowd, "The Binder and the Private Press in Twentieth Century Britain", in Bookbinder: Journal of the Society of Bookbinders and Book Restorers, 1993. Octavo. Original vellum, spine lettered in gilt, rose and "Soul is Form" blind-stamped on front cover. Printed in Caslon type. Hand-coloured wood-engraved frontispiece, hand-coloured and illuminated initials throughout. Bookplate of one R. D. Hirschfeld on front pastedown. A couple of spots of foxing to covers and faintly to occasional leaves; a very good copy.

Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom

Tennyson, Lord Alfred. Maud. Essex House, London, 1905.

Price: US$3542.72 + shipping

Condition: Near Fine

Description: The First Essex House Press edition printed in 1905. One of 125 copies only, this copy is out of series and unnumbered. The BOOK is in near Fine condition. Each printed on vellum and hand-coloured, with a frontispiece by Reginald Savage and Laurence Housman in collaboration, cut by Clarence Housman. Original vellum, spine lettered in gilt, rose and 'Soul is Form' blind-stamped on the front cover as issued. The vellum is in very bright condition with just some slight curling of the yapped edges. Printed in Caslon type. Hand-coloured wood-engraved frontispiece, with hand-coloured and illuminated initials throughout. The frontis in this copy is highly coloured as opposed to some copies where there is far less colouring. Internally clean. The vellum covers are remarkably clean for their age. Tennyson's poem was first published in 'Maud, and Other Poems' in 1855, his first collection after becoming poet laureate in 1850. The illuminations to this work were carried out by Anastasia Power. Power was a student of Douglas Cockerell and ran the Essex House bindery from the summer of 1902 until 1905. She was ‘an accomplished artist and calligrapher’ and practised illumination with Fred Partridge alongside her role as binder (Dowd, p. 61). She consequently provided the illumination for much of the Press's output at this time. The Essex House Press was founded by Charles Robert Ashbee and Laurence Hodson following the closure of William Morris's Kelmscott Press in 1897 and 'came from the heart of the arts and crafts movement' (Franklin, p. 64). Ashbee bought the Kelmscott Press's Albion printing presses after William Morris's death, and employed one of the Kelmscott compositors, Thomas Binning. An exceptional copy of this highlight title from the Essex Press. The book is protected in a removable Mylar archival cover. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.

Seller: Ashton Rare Books ABA : PBFA : ILAB, Market Harborough, United Kingdom