Letters of Many Lands. Designed and cut on linoleum blocks by the Lettering Class of Teacher’s College, Columbia University.
New York: [William Edwin Rudge], [ 1921]. An alphabet featuring large color (black, green, and orange) linoleum block prints depicting scenes, imagery, or design motifs from around the world, from “Aztec” to “Zululand.”No limitation given. OCLC lists eight copies, all in the United States. Color linoleum block prints throughout. Index. Very mild creasing to top right corner of front wrapper and initial leaves. Some very light toning to outer edges of pages. A very good + copy. Heavy brown paper wrappers, stitched. Title printed in black on front wrapper. 9 x 11 in. [29] pp. Item #18020
The Shop of William Edwin Rudge refers to the self-named printing business run by three generations of William Edwin Rudges. Given the present work’s publication date, the Rudge shop would’ve then been run by William Edwin Rudge II (1876 –1931). In 1921, Rudge II moved the shop from Brooklyn to Mount Vernon, N.Y. He collaborated closely with the celebrated typographer and book designer, Bruce Rogers. In his lifetime, Rudge II achieved global recognition within the world of printing. In 1925 he was chosen by then Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover, selected Rudge II to represent the American printing industry at the International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Art in Paris. “Any account of American printing written during the last twenty years has placed the name of Mr. Rudge in a small group of not more than two or three artist-publishers who devoted themselves largely to limited editions wrought with the greatest care for appreciative purchasers.”.
See William Edwin Rudge obituary, New York Times, June 13, 1931.
Price: $750.00