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Tag Archives: California

Banned! — Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

29 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by rarebooks in Alice, Donations

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Alice, Alice Lidell, animals, banned, book collector, bookplates, California, cartoonist, Charles Dodgson, Cheshire Cat, children, China, Christmas, cloth bindings, Cyril Bathurst Judge, donation, fairy tales, fantasy, George MacDonald, gift, gilt, Governor, Harvard, Henry Kingsley, Huan Province, humans, John Tenniel, language, Lewis Carroll, London, Los Angeles, Macmillan, Michael R. Thompson Rare Books, Michael Sharpe, Michael Thompson, pictorial, Punch, story, United States, University of Utah

fish-frog mouse

“Animals should not use human language.”

Alice’s adventures in wonderland…
Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)
London: Macmillan and Co., 1866
First published edition

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s now-famous Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was intended solely for Alice Liddell and her two sisters. Dodgson made the story up to entertain the bored children during a series of outings. Alice asked Dodgson to write the story down. Dodgson presented his manuscript to Alice as a Christmas gift in 1864. Friend and novelist Henry Kingsley saw the manuscript and encouraged Dodgson to publish the book. Dodgson consulted another friend, George MacDonald.

Macdonald, a popular writer of fairy tales and fantasy, read the story to his children, who thoroughly approved of it. Macdonald’s six-year-old son is said to have declared that he “wished there were 60,000 copies of it.”

Dodgson prepared the manuscript for publication, expanding the original 18,000 word story to 35,000 words and adding, among other characters and scenes, the Cheshire Cat and “A Mad-Tea Party.”

The first edition included forty-two illustrations by John Tenniel, a cartoonist for the magazine, Punch. The edition of 4,000 copies was released, under the pseudonym “Lewis Carroll,” in time for Christmas in December of 1865, carrying 1866 as the publication date. However, Tenniel and Dodgson disapproved of the quality of the printing. This first printed edition was removed from the market. A few of these printings made their way to the United States.

The book was reprinted and re-released in 1866. By 1884, 100,000 copies had been printed.

In 1931, the work was banned in China by the Governor of Huan Province on the grounds that “Animals should not use human language, and…it [is] disastrous to put animals and human beings on the same level.”

University of Utah copy is in original gilt pictorial cloth bindings. The inside front boards bear two bookplates, one of Harvard scholar Cyril Bathurst Judge (b. 1888), the other of book collector Michael Sharpe. Anonymous donation facilitated by Michael Thompson of Michael R. Thompson Rare Books, Los Angeles, California.

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Exhibition — “Tunnel Vision”

01 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by rarebooks in Physical Exhibitions

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accordion fold, Allison Milham, altar, bands, Berkeley, Book Arts Program, Book Arts Studio, California, City Center of San Francisco, cut-out, desert, envelope, fan-folds, Flying Fish Press, Gloria Morales, J. Willard Marriott Library, Julie Chen, Kathy Walkup, land art, Lois Morrison, Luise Poulton, Maryline Poole Adams, Mexican, miniature book, movable books, Nancy Holt, oil-cloth, paper hinges, peephole, photograph, Poole Press, pop-up, rare book collections, Rare Books Department, San Francisco, Scott Beadles, Sun Tunnels, The University of Utah, tunnel book, Utah, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Virgin, workshop

 

TUNNELVISION_slide

Tunnel Vision: A Selection of Tunnel, Pop-up and Movable Books from the Rare Books Department

Tunnel Vision features a selection of pieces from the rare book collections produced using various paper manipulations to create the illusion of depth — framing and narrowing the viewers’ perspective. This exhibition is the result of a collaboration between the Book Arts Program, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and the Rare Books Department. It coincides with two events (see below) inspired by Nancy Holt’s famous land art piece, Sun Tunnels, located in Utah’s west desert.

March 23 through June 3, 2016
Level 1, J. Willard Marriott Library
The University of Utah
Co-curated by Luise Poulton and Allison Milham

DSCF8939
A Maze in Mystery: An Amazing Peep-Show
Maryline Poole Adams
Berkeley, CA: Poole Press, 1992
N7433.4 A23 M29 1992

Boards connected by fan-folds; views are through a door in the first board. Edition of one hundred copies. University of Utah copy is no. 22.

DSCF8923
The Gadarene Swine: Luke 8:26-33 & Later
Lois Morrison
Berkeley, CA: Flying Fish Press
N7433.4 M66 G3 1993

DSCF8931DSCF8932
Jardin de Guadalupe
Lois Morrison
San Francisco, CA: L. Morrison, 1994
N7433.4 M66 J37 1994

Paper cut-out see-through scene with accordion fold hinges on both sides and photograph of altar with Virgin at back. In oil-cloth envelope, fastened with ties. Edition of twenty-five copies. University of Utah copy is no. 19.

DSCF8947
Life Time
Julie Chen
Berkeley, CA: Flying Fish Press, 1996
N7433.4 C44 L54 1996

Miniature book enclosed in a decorated sea green paper box with a hinged window lid. Text printed on a series of eight concentric discs attached by paper hinges in an accordion-fold format designed to be read through a center hole when the construction is fully extended. Edition of one hundred copies, numbered and signed by the author. University of Utah copy is no. 15.]

DSCF8941
Ya Viene la Banda
Gloria Morales
San Francisco, CA: City College of San Francisco, 1998
N7433.4 M648 H47 1998

Tunnel book inspired by popular Mexican bands. Printed and bound by the author. Produced in Kathy Walkup’s Book Arts class at CCSF. Six leaves of color illustrations mounted with accordion-folded paper between boards, to be viewed through a peephole in the cover. One leaf of text laid-in. Edition of seven copies, numbered. University of Utah copy is no. 4.

Exhibition photographs by Scott Beadles

Sun Tunnels Educators’ Workshop and Family Day
April 23, 2016, 10am — 12pm
Free for teachers and their families (kids ages 5 and up)
The Book Arts Studio, J. Willard Marriott Library, Level 4

One of the most famous land art works in the world is right in our backyard! Nancy Holt’s iconic Sun Tunnels explores themes of light, perspective, time, space, geography, and more — perfect topics for interdisciplinary teaching. Bring your family and join the Utah Museum of Fine Arts for this hands-on workshop. Start the day together experiencing nature, then explore teaching through tunnel books while the family makes their own Sun Tunnels inspired art.

To register for this workshop contact: Allison Milham (Allison Milham @utah.edu) or schoolprogram@umfa.utah.edu

For more information visit umfa.utah.edu/teacherworkshops

ARTLandish: Sun Tunnels Community Meet-up
April 30, 2016, 1pm 00 4pm
Free and open to the public

Join the UMFA for a day of art and science at Sun Tunnels, the iconic land art by Nancy Holt in Utah’s west desert. UFMA members, families, teachers, and students of all ages are invited to explore the landscape, create art, and learn about the environment of the desert. Meet at site.

For driving directions visit: umfa.utah.edu/suntunnels_selfguide
For more information contact: virginia catherall@umfa.utah.edu

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Book of the Week – Dancing with Amelia

09 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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accordion, airplane, Amelia Earhart, book, California, Charles Hobson, die cut, IRIS, laser cut, Lockheed Electra, mixed media drawings, Oakland, Pacific Editions, printmaking, San Francisco, The University of Utah, Todd Die, twin-engine

Dancing With Amelia coverDancing with Amelia Title-page spreadDancing with Amelia spread

DANCING WITH AMELIA
Charles Hobson (1943-)
San Francisco, CA: Pacific Editions, 2000
N7433.4 H62 D36 2000

Charles Hobson uses a variety of printmaking methods to construct images around historical and literary themes. The book is his primary format. Mixed media drawings scanned and printed as IRIS prints. Pages die cut by Todd Die, Oakland, California into an airplane shape based on the design of the twin-engine Lockheed Electra Amelia Earhart flew on her last flight. Accordion style binding with laser cut 8-ply illustrated cover. Edition of thirty-eight copies. University of Utah copy is no. 24, signed.

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Rare Books acquisition made possible with help from Latin American Studies

24 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by rarebooks in Uncategorized

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accordion, Aesop, Alabama, Alan Sundberg, Allesandro Zanella, American, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Anthony O'Hara, Antonio Frasconi, Argentina, Art Students League in New York City, ASU School of Art, avante-garde, Biennale, broadside, Buenos Aries, Caldecott Medal, California, Carlos Oquendo de Amat (1905-1936), Cartiere Enrico Magnani, Catholic, Center for Latin American Studies, Cesar Vallejo (1892-1938), Charles Baudelaire, children, Chile, Christmas, Claribel Alegria (b. 1924), Communist Party, Cottondale, Craig Jensen, Cuba, David M. Guss, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Visual Arts, Ernesto Cardenal (b. 1924), European, fables, Gabriel Mistral (1889-1957), Gabriel Rummonds, George Wieck, Glenway Wescott, Goudy modern, Guggenheim Fellowship, H. Berthold A.G., Henry Holt & Company, Idea Vilarino (1902-2009), Isla Vista, Italian, Italo Calvino, Italy, Japan, Japanese paper, Joaquin Pasos (1914-1977), John Risseeuw, Joseph Blumenthal, Juan Gelman (1930-2014), Juana de Ibarbourou (1892-1979), Kitty Hawk, La Editorial Minerva, Lake Titicaca, Latin American Studies, Lima, linoleum blocks, Marco Antonio Montes de Oca (1932-2009), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mexico, Mohawk, Montevideo, Museum of Modern Art, National Academy of Design, National Gallery of Art, New York City, New York Public Library, Nicanor Parra (b. 1914), Nicaragua, Nicolás Guillén (1902-1989), Octavio Paz (1914-1998), Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), Panama, paste paper, Peru, Plain Wrapper Press, poetry, Post Mediaeval, postage stamps, printer, Puno, Purchase, Pyracantha Press, rare books, Republic of Uruguay, Robert Frost (1874-1963), Roberto Fernandez Retamar (b. 1930), Sanctuary, Sergio Pausig, Smithsonian, Sorbonne, Spain, Spiral Press, State University of New York, Tempe, The House That Jack Built, The University of Utah, Tom and Elfie Rummonds, Turkey Press, type, typeface, United States, Uruguay, Venice, Vicente Garcia Huidobro Fernandez (1893-1948), Walt Whitman, Washington handpress, William Weaver (1923-2013), woodcuts, World War I, World War II

Thanks to generous support from the Center for Latin American Studies, Rare Books has purchased a rare copy of a work by Argentinian artist Antonio Frasconi.

19-Poemas-Spread1 19-poemas-Spread2 19-Poemas

19 Poemas de Hispano America
Antonio Frasconi (1919-2013)
South Norwalk, CT: 1969
PQ7798.16 R374 D5 1969

Twenty-one full-page color woodcuts, each signed by the artist. Printed on Japanese paper. Poets include Juana de Ibarbourou (1892 – 1979, Uruguay), Cesar Vallejo (1892-1938, Peru), Vicente Garcia Huidobro Fernandez (1893-1948, Chile), Gabriel Mistral (1889-1957, Chile), Nicolas Guillen (1902-1989, Cuba), Pablo Neruda (1904-1973, Chile), Nicanor Parra (b. 1914, Chile), Joaquin Pasos (1914-1977, Nicaragua), Octavio Paz (1914-1998, Mexico), Idea Vilarino (1920-2009, Uruguay), Claribel Alegria (b. 1924, Nicaragua), Ernesto Cardenal (b. 1924, Nicaragua), Juan Gelman (1930-2014, Argentina), Roberto Fernandez Retamar (b. 1930, Cuba), Marco Antonio Montes de Oca (1932-2009, Mexico). Issued in orange cloth tray case made by George Wieck. Edition of fifteen signed copies. The University of Utah copy is no. 3.

Antonio Frasconi was born in Buenos Aries and grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay. His parents, of Italian descent, had moved from Italy to Argentina during World War I. At the age of twelve, he began apprenticing with a printer. Frasconi liked the idea of making multiples in order to offer art at reasonable prices. Frasconi moved to the United States from Argentina in 1945 at the end of World War II on a scholarship to study at the Art Students League in New York City. In 1952, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1959, he was a runner-up for the Caldecott Medal, an honor awarded to the illustrator of the best American picture book for children. The House That Jack Built, was also written by Frasconi and remains a favorite today. He was elected into the National Academy of Design as an associate member and became a full Academician in 1969. In 1982, Frasconi was named Distinguished Teaching Professor of Visual Arts at the State University of New York at Purchase. Frasconi illustrated more than one hundred books. His woodcuts appeared on album and magazine covers, holiday cards, calendars, posters and a U.S. postage stamp. His work is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the New York Public Library, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian and private collections.

19 Poemas de Hispano America joins several other pieces illustrated by Frasconi in the rare book collections:

12 Fables of Aesop
New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1954
PA3855 E5 W48

Linoleum blocks by Antonio Frasconi illustrate fables adapted by Glenway Wescott. The book was designed by Joseph Blumenthal and honored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts as one of the year’s 50 best books. Edition of nine hundred and seventy-five signed copies. University of Utah copy is no. 724.



Kitty Hawk, 1894
Robert Frost (1874-1963)
New York: Spiral Press, 1956
PS3511 R94 K57 1956

Issued as holiday greetings from Henry Holt and Company, Christmas, 1956.

PS3511-R94-K57-1956-dustjacket


Kaleidoscope in Woodcuts
Antonio Frasconi
New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968; Japan: Zokeisha Publications, Ltd., 1968
NE1112 F72 A4 1968

Printed to honor Antonio Frasconi by the Republic of Uruguay at the 34th Biennale in Venice. Color reproductions of woodcuts printed on a continuous strip of paper folded accordion style. Bound in grey cloth boards. Issued in black slipcase with printed paper label. University of Utah copy gift of Gabriel Rummonds.

NE1112-F72-A4-1968-spread


Overhead the Sun: Lines from Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1969
First edition
PS3204 F65

Color woodcuts by Antonio Frasconi. University of Utah copy signed by artist.

PS3204-F65-SunImage


¡Apoye santuario!
Tempe: ASU School of Art Pyracantha Press, 1985
HV645 F73 1985

Broadside designed and printed by Antonio Frasconi and John Risseeuw “in support of the churches that take part in the new underground railroad known as Sanctuary.” – from the colophon. University of Utah copy nol. 123, signed by the designers.

HV645-F73-1985


Prima che tu dica « Pronto »
Italo Calvino
Cottondale, AL: Plain Wrapper Press, 1985
PQ4809 A45 P713 1985

From Fantasies and Hard Knocks, Gabriel Rummonds, 2015: “…in October 1983 Antonio Frasconi invited me to give a talk to a group of art students at the State University of New York at Purchase. During that visit he inquired about the Calvino project and I reluctantly had to admit that I still had not published it – partly because I had been unable to find an artist who would work within my specified parameters. I related the problems I had had working with Alan Sundberg and Sergio Pausig. Antonio, who had always wanted to illustrate at least one PWP book, asked me to send the manuscript to him, saying he would like to give it another try. Knowing of his wonderful landscapes and not wanting to risk disappointment again, I gave up on the idea of having circular illustrations and suggested that he use the geographic locations mentioned in the story as themes for his illustrations. And that is exactly what he did with great success.”

PQ4809-A45-P7713-1985-LandscapeSpread

English translation by William Weaver (1923-2013). The aesthetic and technical challenge of binding this edition inspired Craig Jensen to pursue edition binding over an intended career in book conservation. It also marked the beginning of his work with master printer Gabriel Rummonds. Illustrated with four multi-colored woodcuts by Antonio Frasconi. Printed on an 1847 Washington handpress by Gabriel Rummonds and Alessandro Zanella. Some pages printed on double leaves. Type is handset Post Mediaeval cast by H. Berthold A.G. Paper handmade at the Cartiere Enrico Magnani, printed damp. Tan quarter leather with paste paper sides by Antony O’Hara. Binding is a tight joint, in-boards style, incorporating a spine hollow and handsewn silk endbands. Housed in a cloth-covered, drop-spine box with the Plain Wrapper Press device set in a recess on front board. Edition of seventy-five numbered copies, signed by the poet and the artist. University of Utah copy is no. 4, printed for Tom and Elfie Rummonds.

PQ4809-A45-P713-1985-spread


Five Meters of Poems
Carlos Oquendo de Amat (1905-1936)
Isla Vista, CA: Turkey Press, 1986
First English edition
PQ8497 O5 C513 1986

Carlos Oquendo de Amat was born in Puno, Peru, but spent most of his childhood on the streets of Lima. Puno was a provincial capital on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Amat’s father was a Sorbonne-educated progressive newspaper publisher, a prominent member of Puno society and a vocal opponent of Peru’s conservative Catholic establishment. Upon the death of his father in 1918, Amat and his mother moved from genteel comfort in Pano to poverty in Lima, at a time when the city experienced growth and transformation in the form of new working and professional classes. Amat became a part of an extensive avant-garde poetry movement in Lima. Cinco metros de poemas is his only publication, written between 1923 and 1925, and printed in 1927, when Amat was 19. The original publication, produced in Lima by La Editorial Minerva, was printed on a single sheet of folded paper five meters long. The lines were composed in varying layouts throughout the sheet. The poem-object is reminiscent of earlier and contemporary European modernist movements that included poets such as Baudelaire and known to the literati in Lima. Amat joined the Communist Party, and spent the rest of his life in and out of jail for dissent. He contracted tuberculosis in prison. He was deported to Panama, from where he managed to get to Spain. He died there shortly after he arrived and just before the Spanish civil war. Translation of Cinco metros de poemas by David M. Guss, with an introduction by Guss. Illustrated with woodcuts by Antonio Frasconi. Formed as one folded sheet, five meters long. Typeface is Goudy modern. Paper is Mohawk. Edition of three hundred copies.

PQ8497-O6-C513-1986

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Thank you, Anonymous!

11 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by rarebooks in Donations

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1960s, 1970s, Albert Camus, Alfred Hitchcock, California, catalog, Curtis all-rag, DelMonico Books, e. e. cummings, educator, Frances Elizabeth Kent, German, Great Depression, Ian Berry, Immaculate Heart College, Immaculate Heart College Press, Italian, John Cage, judge, Lilian Marks, Lilian Simon, London, Los Angeles, love, Martin Luther King, Michael Duncan, Munich, museums, New York, nun, Ohio, peace, Pennsylvania, Pirandello, Plantin Press, plays, playwright, poems, poet, Poland, Prestel, Roman Catholic, Saul Marks, serigraphs, silkscreen, Sister Mary Corita, Sisters fo the Immaculate Heart of Mary, soldier, The Frances Young Yang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, theater, Ugo Betti, United States

A generous donation from Anonymous adds to our growing collection of material documenting the 1960s.

Spread

The Words of Ugo Betti. Innocence and the Process of Justification in the Late Plays…
Los Angeles: Immaculate Heart College Press, 1965

Ugo Betti (1892-1953) was an Italian judge and poet. He is considered by some to be the greatest Italian playwright since Pirandello. He wrote his first poems while a soldier in German captivity (1917-18). They were published as Il Re Pendieroso in 1922. After the success of his first play, La Padrona, he worked exclusively in theater, for which he wrote twenty-seven plays.

Illustrated with eight serigraphs by Sister Mary Corita (born Frances Elizabeth Kent) (1918-1986), a Roman Catholic nun and educator who worked with silkscreen —  incorporating scriptural quotation, excerpts from well-known authors such as e.e. cummings and Albert Camus, song lyrics, and grocery store signs into her art. Kent belonged to the order of Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. While teaching at Immaculate Heart College her students included John Cage and Alfred Hitchcock. Her work, focused on the themes of love and peace, were popular during the social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. One of her best known works is “Love Your Brother,” a 1969 piece that features photographs of Martin Luther King overlaid with words in her handwritings. She is famous for her 1985 “Love” stamp.

Sister Mary said, “I really love the look of letters – the letters themselves become a kind of subject matter even apart from their meaning – like apples or oranges are for artists.”

Printed on Curtis all-rag paper at the Plantin Press, Los Angeles. Edition of two hundred and seventy-five copies.

The Plantin Press, a small private press, was begun in 1931 by Saul and Lilian Marks. Saul Marks learned the printing trade in Poland during WWI. He emigrated to the United States in 1921, where he met and married Lilian Simon. The Marks’ moved to Los Angeles in 1930 and set up shop in the midst of the Great Depression. Lilian Marks continued the press after Saul died in 1974, until she sold the business in 1985.


The donation included a catalog accompanying the exhibition, “Someday is Now: The Art of Corita Kent,” curated by Ian Berry and Michael Duncan, which traveled to museums in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and California between 2013 and 2015.

Someday is Now: the Art of Corita Kent
The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College
DelMonico Books, Prestel: Munich, London, New York, 2013
Cover

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Book of the Week – Minuet from Quintet in E by Luigi Boccherini

26 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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California, copper, Fairfax, Jungle Garden Press, Luigi Boccherini, minuet, Minuet from Quintet in E, music box, quintet, steel

MINUET FROM QUINTET IN E BY LUIGI BOCCHERINI
Fairfax, CA: Jungle Garden Press, 1990
N7433.4 J8 M5 1990

A music box in the form of a book, the mechanism inset in hollowed-out pages. The winding key protrudes from the back cover. Illustrated with bars of music. Covers are steel with copper patina.

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Another Book of the Week – AVVENTURE DELLA MIA VITA…

15 Wednesday Jul 2015

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American, Austria, Bologna, Brigham Young, California, cattle, consul, Corsica, Domenico Ballo, Florentine, Italian Consul General in San Francisco, John Taylor, King of Sardinia, Leonetto Cipriani (1812-1888), Marriott Library Advisory Board, Michael W. Homer, Mormon, On the Way to Somewhere Else, orchestra, politics, polygamy, rare books, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Theatre, San Francisco, settlers, Sicilian, The University of Utah Press, Zanichelli


AVVENTURE DELLA MIA VITA…
Leonetto Cipriani (1812-1888)
Bologna: N. Zanichelli editore, 1934
First edition
DG552.8 C56 M67 1934

In 1852, Leonetto Cipriani was appointed by the King of Sardinia as that country’s first consul in San Francisco. Cipriani, born into a Florentine family living in Corsica, fought against Austria in 1848 and was imprisoned and then exiled. After resigning as consul, he purchased cattle in the American mid-west with the intention of selling them in California. During his cattle drive, in 1852, six years after the Mormon settlers arrived, he passed through Salt Lake City. There, a converted Sicilian, Domenico Ballo, introduced Cipriani to John Taylor. Taylor introduced Cipriani to Brigham Young. In this book, Cipriani reminisces about the Salt Lake Theatre, where Ballo conducted the orchestra, and conversations with Taylor regarding polygamy and politics.

University of Utah copy gift of Michael W. Homer.

Read more about Leonetti Cipriani here, on the Italian Consul General in San Francisco’s blog. Read an abstract of his memoirs from On the Way to Somewhere Else, published by The University of Utah Press and edited by Michael W. Homer, member of the Marriott Library Advisory Board and ever-faithful friend of Rare Books.

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Book of the Week – Everyday Readers

13 Monday Apr 2015

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blockprint, California, Mary V. Marsh, mulberry paper, Oakland, Quite Contrary Press, University of Utah


Everyday Readers
Mary V. Marsh
Oakland, CA: Quite Contrary Press, 2010
N7433.4 M373 E8 2010

From the colophon: “Blockprint on checkout cards, mulberry paper, brads, type, vintage cover.” Issued in case. Orange card in pocket on p.3 of cover numbered and signed by the author/artist. University of Utah copy is no. 14.

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Book of the Week – Tangent

03 Tuesday Mar 2015

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Abu' Tayib al-Mutanabbi, al-Mutanabbi Street, Alise Alousi, Arabic, Baghdad, Beau Beausoleil, Bradypress, California, Gill Sans, handsewn, Indian marble paper pastedowns, Iraq, Japanese silk, Nebraska, News Gothic Condensed, Omaha, Shabandar Cafe, Somerset


 

Tangent
Alise Alousi
Omaha, NE: Bradypress, 2011
PS3551 L665 T36 2011

Al-Mutanabbi Street in the heart of Baghdad, is named after the 10th century Arab poet Abu’ Tayib al-Mutanabbi. For centuries the winding street has been the center of Iraqi literary movements. Lined with booksellers and bookshops, scholars, poets, readers, writers and artists met to perform, debate and create. Shabandar Café, which opened in 1917, was the heart of this community. On March 5, 2007, a car bomb exploded in this crowded intellectual marketplace. Thousands of books and other written documents were destroyed. More than thirty people were killed, more than one hundred injured. In response to the attack, California poet and bookseller Beau Beausoleil brought together a coalition of poets, writers, readers, artists, booksellers and printers to comment on the implications of attack on culture as a way to conquer. Poem written in memory of those who lost their lives in the car bombing of 5 March 2007 on al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. The poet and artist is a first generation Iraqi-American. Poem typeset in Gill Sans, title in News Gothic Condensed on Somerset text paper. Endsheets handmade by swirling strips of Arabic text that read “al-Mutanabbi Street” with cotton pulp. Handsewn into boards covered in Japanese silk with Indian marble paper pastedowns. Edition of forty copies. University of Utah copy is no. 33.

 

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Book of the Week – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

08 Monday Sep 2014

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advertisements, American, bookstores, British, California, Canada, copyright, England, frontispiece, Hartford, London, manuscript, Mark Twain, piracy, prospectus, royalties, Samuel Clemens, San Francisco, subscription, Tom Sawyer, typewritten, United States, unpublished


The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Hartford, CT: American Pub. Co.; San Francisco, CA: A. Roman, 1876
First American edition, first printing
PS1306-A1-1876

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) wrote three different versions of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer between 1872 and 1875 before it was first published in London in June, 1876.

Many American authors preferred to have their books published first in England, since that was the only way to secure British copyright. First printings in England, and then the United States, usually occurred only a couple of months apart. In the case of Tom Sawyer, the delay was longer, frustrating Twain. Too much of a delay often resulted in piracy, which is exactly what happened in the case of this work. At least one pirated edition surfaced in July in Canada.

Twain believed that the delay and the piracy caused him loss in royalties. Tom Sawyer was reviewed unfavorably in the London Examiner, the day it came out. A July review in the literary magazine, The Atheneaum, was more kindly.

In December 1876, Tom Sawyer was printed in the United States and sold by subscription only. This was a common method of book distribution in the United States during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Book agents would cross the country with a publisher’s prospectus, selling and placing orders for as yet unpublished titles. Once the title was released the books would be delivered directly to subscriber’s homes. Only later editions were available in bookstores.

Tom Sawyer was not an immediate success. The American publisher sold only 24,000 copies in its first year. The pirated edition was not the only reason for poor sales. One book agent in California complained that the story, at only 274 pages, was not long enough. Potential subscribers apparently felt the same way.

Twain typed the manuscript for Tom, and later claimed that it was the first typewritten manuscript. Historians, however, believe that this distinction goes to Twain’s Life on the Mississippi. The frontispiece of the first American edition was drawn by Twain. Publisher’s advertisements, dated Dec. 1, 1876 on two leaves in back.

 

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