Searching for a famous book

We are the authors of The Kelmscott Chaucer: A Census, published by Oak Knoll Press in April 2011. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, issued by William Morris’s Kelmscott Press in 1896, is probably the most famous of all private press books, set in types, ornaments, and initials designed by Morris and lavishly illustrated by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. There were 425 copies printed on paper and 15 on vellum. Our Census is an attempt to trace as many as possible of those copies, to describe them thoroughly (including bindings), and to summarize the history of ownership of each.

In our book we succeeded in locating approximately two-thirds of the pressrun of the Chaucer, but we know that many copies have eluded us. The Kelmscott Chaucer continues to appear from time to time in auction rooms and in dealers’ catalogues, and we have no doubt that the publication of our Census will have the effect of bringing even more out into the open. We decided that we needed some medium to record this new information as it came to light; this blog, therefore, is an effort to keep our book up to date.

We envision several kinds of posts. When we locate new copies of the Chaucer, we will eventually describe them in the same format we used in the Census; but in the meantime, before all the information is available, we will offer brief “preliminary notes” about what we know so far. In other cases, when we learn about copies being offered for sale, we will write short posts about them; later, when more details emerge (such as the price realized or the name of the purchaser), we will report those facts as well. It is possible also that occasionally we may write posts not related to specific copies of the Chaucer but rather based on some experiences or reflections that grew out of our pursuit of this celebrated book.

We welcome additions and corrections to our Census; please write us at swholton2@cs.com.

— William S. Peterson & Sylvia Holton Peterson    

Copy for sale: Charrington–Doolittle–Price copy

Heritage Book Shop, Los Angeles, is offering, for $85,000, a quarter-linen copy with bookplates of John Charrington and H. L. Doolittle. The book was also item 78 in the Heritage Book Shop catalogue for the 45th California International Antiquarian Book Fair, 10–12 February 2012.

As far as we know, this is the first copy listed in our Census (no. 2.12) that has come up for sale since the publication of our book a year ago. It was most recently owned by Robert Salinas Price of Mexico City.

Birmingham Assay Office Library

The Birmingham Assay Office Library, Newhall Street, Birmingham, has a quarter-linen copy of the Kelmscott Chaucer. There are no bookplates or other marks of previous ownership and no information about when the book was acquired by the library.

[Update, 6 February 2012: The Assay Office now has a post on its blog about the book.]

Copy for sale: Sondheim copy

At its auction on 23 February 2012, Swann Galleries, New York, is offering a copy in quarter-linen binding from the library of Norman J. Sondheim, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (with his bookplate). The estimate is $30,000–$50,000.

Here is a link to the catalogue. (It’s lot 141.)

A Harvard College and Harvard Law School graduate, Norman J. Sondheim (1914–2011)  spent his adult life as a businessman in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He was an executive of the Triangle Shoe Company and director of the Northeastern Symphony Orchestra.

Exhibition: Boston University, 1954

Mark Samuels Lasner has sent us a copy of a four-page leaflet describing “An Exhibition of the Work of William Morris on Loan from the Library of Miss Margaret Fish | Boston University College of Liberal Arts | Chenery Library Treasure Room | March 1 to 26, 1954.”

The leaflet supplies this information: “This collection was assembled by Frederick Perry Fish and formed part of his library that later came to his daughter, Miss Margaret Fish. The Chaucer is the only title that has been separated from the collection and this is now owned by Mr. Fish’s great granddaughter, Miss Cynthia Burbank. Through her courtesy it is included here.”

We have not located this copy of the Chaucer.

Exhibition: Two Temple Place, London

The copy of the Kelmscott Chaucer owned by the William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow (Census 2.27), is now on display in an exhibition entitled “William Morris: Story, Memory, Myth” at Two Temple Place, London, 28 October 2011–29 January 2012. This is the inaugural show at Two Temple Place, which is described on its website as “London’s first venue to specifically showcase publicly-owned art from UK regional collections. The building is one of London’s hidden architectural gems, an extraordinary late Victorian mansion built by William Waldorf Astor on Embankment.”

 

Copy for sale: Hanson copy

Sophie Schneideman Rare Books and Prints, London, is offering a copy in the Doves binding (dated 1899) from the library of Clarence B. Hanson of Birmingham, Alabama (with his bookplate).

Her catalogue 14 is entitled Kelmscott & Doves: The Private Presses of Hammersmith 1891–1914, from the Collection of Clarence B. Hanson, Jr. of Birmingham, Alabama. The Chaucer is no. 23 in the catalogue.

Clarence Bloodworth Hanson, Jr. (1908–1983), the former publisher of the Birmingham News, was an avid collector of rare books and of private press books in particular. He was also an active supporter of the Birmingham Museum of Art. His wife endowed the Clarence B. Hanson Jr. Library at the museum in his memory.

The Silver Kelmscott Chaucer

Here’s a link to an interesting article by James Brockman about the silver binding that he and Rod Kelly created for John Keatley (Census 2.93).