Phaedrus, a Dialogue by Plato [with] A Search for the Typographic Form of Plato’s Phaedrus

San Francisco: [Published by the Greenwood Press....printed by James Faris], 1978. Limited Edition. Wraps. Near fine/near fine. One of 150 copies, small folio size with limitation slip in publisher's acetate wrapper, with accompanying booklet, the prospectus, and "Instructions in opening....", all in chemise and slipcase. The Greenwood Press was owned and run by Jack Werner Stauffacher (1920-2017), was renowned for "his passion for the written word and the ability for type to contribute to the emotive quality of text" (Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher, Curator of Architecture and Design, SFMOMA, as quoted in Jack Stauffacher's obituary). Jack taught himself printing at the age of 13, and "never looked back". In 1955 he received a Fulbright grant for three years of study in Florence, Italy, under the Italian printing masters Giovanni Mardersteig (Officina Bodoni) and Alberto Tallone (Alberto Tallone Editore), returning to San Francisco where he would spend the rest of his career producing the finest small press books.

" ''Phaedrus' is widely recognized as one of Plato's most profound and beautiful works." It "takes the form of a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus and its ostensible subject is love, especially homoerotic love. Socrates reveals it to be a kind of divine madness that can allow our souls to grow wings and soar to their greatest heights. Then the conversation changes direction and turns to a discussion of rhetoric, which must be based on truth passionately sought, thus allying it to philosophy. The dialogue closes by denigrating the value of the written word in any context, compared to the living teaching of a Socratic philosopher." (N.b., quotes from the web site of the Oxford University Press.)

Issued in an edition of 150 copies, and scarce in the trade; as of this writing we see no copies available online, our search of RBH lists only two copies at auction. Our search of OCLC locates thirty-nine copies with institutions, leaving only about 110 copies for private ownership.

___DESCRIPTION: Main voume: Bound in white paper wrappers with a white paper dust jacket pasted to the spine of the wrappers, on the front of the jacket is " " ("PHAEDRUS" in Greek lettering) printed in red, dialogue of Socrates printed on rectos and the dialogue of Phaedrus on versos; handset Stempel Kis-Janson on Arches Text, small folio size (12 5/8" by 6 1/2"), 156 pages: [8], 1-137 odd numbers only, [138-148]; limited edition of 150 copies, this no. 63, in the publisher's acetate wrapper around the paper dust jacket, printed in 1976; loosely laid in at the colophon is the small slip of paper issued with the volume which identifies the paper and limitation number of the copy.

Accompanying booklet: Heavy paper wraps with yapped edges, on the front wrap is in red, black lettering beneath with the full title, with a black-and-white reproduction of a photograph of a sculpture of the head of Socrates, the text block bound with staples over which string binding holds the wraps, thirty-nine illustrations printed in black and white being facsimiles of editions of "Phaedrus" and "Parmenides" spanning more than sixteen hundred years, accompanied by reproductions of sample pages tracing the typographic development of The Greenwood Press edition of "Phaedrus"; text set in Photo-Sabon, display handset in Stempel Kis-Janson, half the edition printed on Mohawk Sperfine and the other half on Warren's Olde Style Wove, also small folio size (the same dimensions as the main volume), 36 pp., edition of 1000 copies printed in 1978.

Both of the volumes encased in a green paper over heavy cardboard chemise which is in turn in a green paper-covered slipcase, white paper spine label with in red. Loosely laid into the main volume is the prospectus, a single sheet folded once vertically and then horizontally, the front being a mirror of the wrap of the main volume, standard prospectus information on the two inner pages, back page blank. Laid into the prospectus is a small sheet entitled "Instructions in opening 'Phaedrus' ", in appearance a xerox of a typewritten note.

___CONDITION: Main volume is near fine, the wraps clean, straight corners, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; some light bumping to the wraps near the head and tail of the spine, else fine; the acetate wrapper also near fine, clean other than a few light marks, free of edgewear. The accompanying booklet a shade beneath near fine, the yapped edges with overall light creasing, the wraps clean but with light toning, the interior fine, clean and free of prior owner markings. The prospectus near fine, clean, no markings but very light foxing on the front at the upper margin. The chemise and slipcase both near fine, the chemise without wear but light sunning to the spine, the slipcase clean and sturdy, with no splits to the seams, some light sunning and very light wear to the paper at the opening, the spine label clean but beginning to lift at the center.

___CITATION: Humphreys, p. 258, which notes that, while the main volume was printed in 1976 it was not published until 1978.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help. (Inventory #: 25020112)