The Nonesuch Century:
An Appraisal, a Personal Note and a Bibliography of the first hundred books issued by the Press 1923-1934

by A.J.A. Symons; Desmond Flower; and Francis Meynell

Association Copy with ASL to Holbrook Jackson from Meynell.

A must-have book for the bibliophile, this book follows the history of Nonesuch Press, a successful, high-end, private press of the early 20th century. (Please see details after condition notes)

LIMITED FIRST EDITION. London: The Nonesuch Press, 1936.

Hardback is overall in VERY GOOD condition.

• Elegant, understated early-20th century hardback binding, with a rounded spine and leather title stamp pasted onto spine.
• Binding is strong and secure.
• Inside pages are free of marginalia, underlining and intentional marks.
• Green buckram over boards show minor bumping to corners.
• Spine has dramatic fading to a light brown; despite this, the gilt on black title block is mostly intact. (see photos)
• Spine ends are gently bumped and scuffed.
• Ex Libris bookplate with Holbrook Jackson's name on front pastedown. (see photos)
• Pastedowns and endsheets show some light foxing.
• Interior is evenly tanned, with rare scattered foxing/smudges.
• One of the insets has notable edge wear/closed tears along foot edge. (see photos)
• The tipped-in illustrations and inset pages are overall in lovely condition.
• CR20151119

8 X 12.5 inches.

In addition to opening essays, it includes tipped in samples that were printed on the original presses, and much more.

EDITION POINTS: Stated as 1 of 750 printed in England.

PROVENANCE AND EPHEMERA:

• Clipped article about the book from the publication "The Listener" and dated 11 March 1936. The glowing book review was written by British journalist, writer and publisher Holbrook Jackson (1874-1948) who was considered one of the leading bibliophiles of his time.
• The bookplate reveals that this was Holbrook Jackson's personal copy of the book.
• AUTHOR SIGNED LETTER(ASL) addressed to bookplate owner.
• Sir Francis Meredith Wilfrid Meynell (1891-1975) was a British poet and printer at The Nonesuch Press, and a co-author of this book, signed the letter.
• Letter addressed to Jackson and dated April 18, 1936: "Now that a decent interval has elapsed I feel that I can thank you without accusation of log-rolling for your review in "The Listener" of THE NONESUCH CENTURY. It was extremely generous and gave great pleasure not only to me but also to my father."

CONTENTS:

1. The book opens with 80 pages of text: 1) "Appraisal" by A.J.A. Symom; 2) "The Personal Element" by Francis Meynell; 3) "The Bibliography of the First Hundred Books of the Nonesuch Press (1923-1935)" by Desmond Flower.
2. The "Devices" section includes 3 pages of B&W sampling of devices used to represent the press in different books.
3. The "Bindings" section offers 6 B&W photo plates featuring bound Nonesuch books.
4. In the last two sections the numbering system jumps around a bit, because the numbers refer back to the bibliography listing.
5. There is the "Text and Title Pages" with a generous sample of examples.
6. The last third of the book consists of beautiful tipped-in, heavy-stock pages, on which are lightly pasted a wide range of "Illustrations and Inset Pages."

AS IS! Please see photos. More photos available upon request.

International first class shipping includes a handling charge to cover insurance.

Domestic orders over $250 include a handling charge to cover signature confirmation.

 #panoplybooks #rarebooks #bookboutique #collectiblebooks #antiquebooks #vintagebooks #bookstore