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Hard cover, 12mo (measuring 5 x 6 1/2 inches) in quarter brown linen over brown paper-covered boards, the title in gilt on an identical brown paper label applied to front board, outlined in blind. Similar pastedowns. Ghost of bookplate removal to front pastedown. Handsewn with visible stitches seen in gutter of pastedowns. Applied brown paper label to spine, now illegible. Printed on WBW watermarked paper, partially unopened with other edges untrimmed, numbered 103 on limitation page. (8) 87, (5) pp. , First (only) edition. The decorative bordered title page is hand colored with red and gold accents to the black text. Additional incidental carved vignettes appear as chapter footers and historiated caps.** This seems to be a printer or binder's dummy, based on differences seen to other copies. Ours has a gilt tooled paper label, which seems to have been rejected in the end for the use of blind tooling to the front board. Secondly, there is a partial, illegible brown paper label applied to the spine which seems to be "tried for size" with the normal copies having a black printed cream spine label. At least some of the edition would be bound in handmade marbled paper with similar marbled paste downs, both of which are lacking here.** CONDITION: Very Good. There is a tideline of old moisture stain to the paper covered boards where the glue was applied. There is some foxing seen verso the hand-colored details. A few printer's smudges, or jig marks are seen to the pages within. Bookplate or other label ghost on front pastedown. In conclusion, the peculiarities seen in this item are valuable in showing the printer/designer's decision-making process, perhaps analogous to seeing an artist's under-painting in which the position of a limb might be changed mid-process to improve the design.**The Story of Hen-Thorir was translated in 1891 from the Icelandic by William Morris and his Cambridge tutor in Old Norse, Eikir Magnusson (1833-1913). Images of Morris's beautiful, original illuminated calligraphic MS translation can be seen at The Morris Archive at the University of Iowa (from the Bodleian MS.) ***PUBLISHER, The Byway Studio Press, a letterpress run by A.E. Curtis of Cincinnatti, Ohio, began in 1903. This title is the first imprint of The Byway Press, and appears under the publisher's former name A.E. Goetting, dated 1903. (The name change was in response to the divorce of his parents.) An article in the Cincinnati Enquirer (1/29/1950, p.85) details his background as a four-year scholarship winner at the Cincinnatti School of Art beginning in 1901. He and his wife ran the printing/publishing business out of their home. The occasion of the article was the inclusion of his 1923 imprint, "The Masque of the Red Death," in a 1950 exhibition of Edgar Alan Poe works shown at the Library of Congress. Thus, a scarce production dummy of the artist/printer's very first publication, done with a unique, rustic design interpretation reflecting the ancient roots of the material.( The colophon is not shown as that page remains unopened.)W. Ransom, (1927) Byway Studio Press checklist No.1 (of 3 titles only), p. 224. S.O. Thompson, (1996) p .202.
Ref: FINE 9071
$175.00