Fifty-Five Books Printed Before 1525: Representing the Works of England's First Printers: an exhibition from the collection of Paul Mellon, January 17 - March 3, 1968
New York: Grolier Club, 1968. First Edition. Small 4to. xiii, 62, [6] pp. With 8 pages of plates. Original cloth, spine gilt. Ink ownership inscription on first blank leaf. NOT ex-library! Very good. Item #3141
The astounding collection of the earliest English printers formed by Paul Mellon can never be rivaled today. As we read from the preface: "The fifty-five works represented here are the very heart and soul of a new phase of English language and literature." Included are fifteen publications by William Caxton (not only in Westminster but Bruges), his successor Wynkyn de Worde, the Eponymous Printer of Oxford, Theodoricus Rood of Oxford, Richard Pynson, the so-called "Schoolmaster Printer," Julian Notary, John Lettou, William de Machlinia, and Robert Copland. There are detailed collations, copy-specific information such as binding and imperfects (ubiquitous among the earliest English printed books) and provenance.
Price: $25.00