Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Tennyson,Alfred Lord. Seven Poems and Two Translations. Doves Press, Hammersmith, 1902.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Ed of 325
Seller: Weyhe Art Books, Mount Desert, ME, U.S.A.
Price: US$8320.00 + shipping
Description: 233 x 165 mm. (9 1/4 x 6 1/2"). 55, [1] pp. EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE DARK BLUE CRUSHED MOROCCO, GILT, IN THE STYLE OF THE DOVES BINDERY (stamp-signed and dated 1909 on rear turn-in), covers with gilt frame formed by interlocking double rules, side- and cornerpieces with oakleaf clusters accented by open circles and solid dots, large double gilt-rule lozenge in central panel, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with open circle at center, an oakleaf cluster extending above and below it, dots in corners, gilt vertical titling, gilt-ruled turn-ins with oakleaf clusters at corners, all edges gilt and gauffered with two rows of dots. In a blue cloth slipcase. Tomkinson, p. 45; Tidcombe DP-4. For the binding: Tidcombe, p. 463 âThe usual faint offsetting from the facing turn-ins on the front and rear free endpaper, half a dozen leaves with minor foxing just to the lower fore-edge corner, otherwise VERY FINE, the text clean, fresh, and smooth, and the lovely binding especially lustrous and virtually unworn. This is one of the 26 intriguing (and obviously uncommon) examples Tidcombe has identified as imitation Doves bindings, a group of handsomely executed volumes that continue to be mysterious. Tidcombe differentiates between forgeries (those books that are stamp-signed with "C - S" and a date) on the one hand and unsigned "copies of Doves bindings or bindings in the Doves style" on the other. But she treats them as one group "because they have several features in common." For example, signed or unsigned, all of the suspect bindings cover Doves Press books, all are bound in dark blue morocco, and all have green silk double headbands with a visible red core, the letters "E" and "S" are close together on the signature pallet, and so on. Although Tidcombe suggests that the person responsible for the forged Doves bindings could possibly have been the former Doves Bindery finisher Charles McLeish, she does not settle on him or any other likely candidate. Whoever was behind them, the volumes in this puzzling group of bindings--like other forgeries and imitations of historically important cultural artifacts--are actively collected for their value as counterfeits. The present binding differs from its fellows by offering significantly more in the way of gilt decoration. The work here is the fourth publication of the Doves Press, a volume that gathers together a number of poems by Tennyson, written at various times in his long life and all reflecting his abiding interest in Homer and Greek myth. The collection is framed by two short translations of passages from Homer's "Iliad," both featuring images of fire. Two original poems concern the tragic figure of Oenone, the first love of Paris, and two are inspired by the "Odyssey." The other three treat, in turn, the figure of the Theban seer Tiresias; Tithonus, lover of the goddess of Dawn; and the myth of the theft of Persephone by Death. ONE OF 325 COPIES on paper (and 25 on vellum).
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$14560.00 + shipping
Description: 234 x 165 mm. (9 1/4 x 6 1/2"). 55, [1] pp. Publisher's limp vellum by the Doves Bindery, flat spine with gilt titling. Printed in red and black. Front pastedown with bookplate of C. S. Ascherson (see below), dated 1902 in pencil. Tidcombe DP-4. âBoards a little wavy, minor (naturally occurring) variations in the grain of the covers, but a fine copy, the vellum leaves smooth, creamy, and bright, and the binding with few signs of wear. This is the luminous vellum printing of the fourth publication of the Doves Press, gathering a number of poems by Tennyson written at various times in his long life, all of them reflecting his abiding interest in Homer and Greek myth. In contrast to Kelmscott Press founder William Morris' proclivity toward the Baroque, Thomas J. Cobden-Sanderson, the Doves Press founder (along with Emery Walker), demonstrated that printing with plain type (designed by Walker) that is well set and with good margins could produce notable work. As Cave says, the Doves Press books, "completely without ornament or illustration, . . . depended for their beauty almost entirely on the clarity of the type, the excellence of the layout, and the perfection of the presswork." For Cobden-Sanderson, who took up printing late in life, the elegant simplicity of the Doves books was intended to be in harmony with the works of God in creating the beauty and mystery of the universe. Nowhere does the simple splendor of Walker's typography appear to more perfection than in the sought-after vellum printings of Doves books. As with all other aspects of production, Cobden-Sanderson was fastidious about the quality of the vellum used, as can be seen in the bright, buttery-soft leaves here. The selections in this volume are framed by two short translations of passages from Homer's "Iliad," both featuring images of fire and, appropriately, printed in red. Two other poems concern the tragic figure of Oenone, the first love of Paris; two are inspired by the "Odyssey"; and the other three treat, in turn, the figure of the Theban seer Tiresias; Tithonus, lover of the goddess of Dawn; and the myth of the theft of Persephone by Death. This copy was originally in the collection of famed book collector Charles Stephen Ascherson (1877-1945), a British shipowner of Jewish-German heritage who was the father of noted British actress Renée Asherson and grandfather of journalist Neal Ascherson. ONE OF 25 COPIES ON VELLUM (and 325 on paper).
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.