John Baskerville: The Gracious Infidel

San Francisco: The Peregrine Press, 1953 One of 150 copies printed by the author in April of 1953. Paper wrappers printed in black and stitched at spine. . Quarto. With an original leaf from The Poems and Plays of William Congreve, printed by John Baskerville in 1762. Front wrapper slightly creased and has a small chip. A few small stains on original leaf, the result of offsetting from the glue. Additional offsetting from glue on last page of essay and subscriber's list, as likely occurs in all copies. Signed in ink by the author on colophon: "Bill / Trust (truncated) you will find the typos in this / faster than I did! / Henry / 8 Sept. 54." (We have been told that Bill was William Everson). The leaf affixed...is a specimen of John Baskerville's printing and typography...It is a typical page out of an average book, giving the reader, at one glance, a fair idea of what he did...But it is certainly remarkable when it is compared with what was being done by printers in England during his time and before." (From Evans' essay). (Inventory #: 16151)