SYMONS, A. J. A.; MEYNELL, Francis; FLOWER, Desmond.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Nonesuch Century. First edition, first impression, number 608 of 750 copies, of this commemorative bibliography, with illustrative text, title pages, and insets reproduced from the press's first hundred books, printed at the Cambridge University Press."As a piece of typographical design," declares John Dreyfus, "The Nonesuch Century was highly original and extremely successful. Francis [Meynell] realized that reproductions of finely printed pages cannot convey either the feel of a carefully chosen paper or the quality of the impression originally made upon it by a skilful printer. He therefore decided to reset a great many text and title-pages (as well as a few book jackets) and to have them reprinted by their original printers, using the same paper, the same colours, and the identical processes (letterpress, offset, collotype, intaglio engraving or hand colouring) which had been used when the books were first produced" (Dreyfus, p. 96).The Appraisal, describing each book, is provided by Symons, the Personal Element, recording the history of the press, by Meynell, and the Bibliography by Flower. Founded in the basement of Birrell & Garnett's bookshop, Soho, in 1922 by Francis Meynell, his wife-to-be Vera Mendel, and their friend David Garnett, the Nonesuch Press pioneered the practice of using a small hand press to design books, but having them printed by commercial printers so that their fine printing could reach a wider audience at lower prices.

• Printing: first

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.