The Wisdom of Jesus, the Son of Sirach, commonly called Ecclesiasticus by (Ashendene Press) - 1932

Chelsea: Ashendene Press, 1932. This text compiled by A.D. Power from the various versions of Ecclesiasticus. One of 328 copies on large Batchelor 'Bugle' paper, 25 copies were printed on vellum. Red, blue and green initial letters hand drawn by Graily Hewitt. and his assistants Ida Henstock and Helen Hinkley (who also did a great amount of work for the Pear Tree Press). Printed in Subiaco type with the shoulder-notes and wood-engraved colophon printed in red. 4to., original limp orange vellum with ties, untrimmed, housed in the original marbled paper slipcase. An extraordinarily fresh and bright copy with only a mere trace of fading to the spine.||The Ecclesiasticus is a remarkable piece of press work by The Ashendene Press, printed after the death of Faulkner under the guidance of the great printer Gage-Cole, whose pevious triumph was the fabulous Cranach Press Hamlet. Even Hornby himself was pleased with the book: “in my humble judgment it is one of the most satisfactory of the books of the… Read More

Chelsea: Ashendene Press, 1932. Fine. Chelsea, Ashendene Press, 1932 (first thus). Tall quarto, [ii] (title leaf, verso blank), 182 pages printed in red and black Subiaco type, with woodcut initials printed in green and blue, and a large woodcut printer's device printed in red on the colophon. Original overlapping orange vellum by W.H. Smith & Son, lettered in gilt on the spine, with silk ribbon ties; all edges uncut; vellum slightly rubbed at the edges; essentially a fine copy. A superb example of private press printing. This is one of 328 copies on Batchelor handmade paper, with a further 25 copies printed on vellum. The colophon reads in full: 'Printed by C.H. St J. Hornby at the Ashendene Press, Shelley House, Chelsea, with the help of H. Gage-Cole, Pressman, and A.J. Fisk, Compositor, and finished in July of the year 1932. The initial letters in colour are by the hands of Graily Hewitt & his assistants Ida D. Henstock and Helen E. Hinkley'. Ecclesiasticus, a collection of ethical teachings… Read More