#fantasy pattern

Marbled Monday

This marbled Monday we're sharing the devilishly delightful book The Devil's Dictionary by American short story writer, poet, and journalist Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?). A widely influential writer of many sorts, Bierce disappeared in Mexico in 1913, so the actual date and circumstances of his death are unknown. The Devil's Dictionary is a satirical dictionary consisting of humorous definitions and is considered one of the best pieces of satirical humor to come out of the United States.

This edition was published in 1972 by the Limited Editions Club and features woodcut illustrations and devilish ornaments by German artist Fritz Kredel (1900-1973). The marbled paper used for the endpapers and the slipcase are patterned using a fantasy design in red and black that is described as a "harmonizing flame pattern" in the prospectus. Our copy is from the collection of Austin Frederic Lutter and includes his bookplate.

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Fantasy & shark zip cases back in stock on my etsy! https://www.etsy.com/shop/haridraws

Marbled Monday

This is one of our most marble-ous books because of all the great samples of marbling it includes! This is The Art of Marbling by German marbling master Franz Weisse, translated by rare book curator, collector, and marbling expert Richard J. Wolfe. This translation of Weisse's original 1940 text was published by Bird & Bull Press in 1980. The original edition of Weisse's Die Kunst des Marmorierens... was reportedly largely destroyed by bombing during WWII and is extremely rare. The Bird & Bull publication includes a lengthy introduction by Wolfe that surveys 300 years of German marbling and Weisse's place in it.

This edition also includes 14 samples of marbled paper made by Wolfe, who also marbled the cover paper for the edition. These samples include patterns created using a needle (or stylus), fantasy marbling, and overmarbling. The cover paper is also an example of overmarbling, in which paper is marbled once and then another pattern is made on top of the first.

The Art of Marbling was published in an edition of 300 copies on Green's hand made Bird and Bull paper. It was composed using Van Dijck types by Mackenzie-Harris Corp., with binding by E.G. Parrot.

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Marbled Monday

This lovely example of fantasy pattern marbling is from the Limited Editions Club's 1967 publication The Writings of Thomas Jefferson. The book was designed by Roderick Stinehour with text set in Monotype Bell types and printed at the Stinehour Press in Lunenburg, Vermont in an edition of 1500 copies. It includes 16 full-page lithographs and 36 monochrome drawings by Lynd Ward (1905-1985), who signed each volume. The paper was made by the Curtis Paper Company in Newark, Delaware.

The paper used for the cover and slipcase is a blue, red, pink, and gold marbled paper. It features a fantasy pattern primarily in light and dark shades of blue with red, pink, and gold accents. The colors of the paper are similar to those used to print Ward's two-color lithographs. You can see in the difference in the color of the paper between the slipcase and the book itself that there has been some yellowing of the paper on the slipcase, most likely from light damage.

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View more posts featuring the work of Lynd Ward.

View more Limited Editions Club posts. 

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Marbled Monday

This Marbled Monday book is one we posted about recently for the anniversary of the main character setting off on his voyage around the world—Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, as published by the Limited Editions Club in 1962.

While the slipcase it was issued in is covered in plain, navy blue paper, the book itself is covered in "French hand-marbled paper in a deep blue marine pattern" (publication announcement). Marine is not the name of the pattern, just a description of the colors used. This pattern falls under the category of Fantasy patterns and would be created using a stylus to make the organic swirls. There is also a very light speckling of gold in the marbling. The spine is vellum with a gold label printed with the title.

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Marbled Monday

This Marbled Monday we bring you another taste of Spring with this lovely orange and green marbling found on the covers of the book A Dream of Spring with poems by English poet Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001) and illustrations by British landscape artist Anthony Rossiter (1926-2000). Published by the Celandine Press in 1980, 150 copies were printed in hand-set Bell type on Zerkall mould-made paper by the Wittington Press and bound in marbled paper by the Scolar Press. Our copy is signed by both the author and the illustrator. 

The marbling is a fantasy pattern, which has a less structured look than some other marbling patterns like the French curl we shared a few weeks ago. It’s a bit more free-form, giving it a more organic feel. The colors used here are orange and green with a matching green book cloth spine, speaking to the brightness of springtime. 

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Marbled Monday

Today we bring you two official documents from King Charles III of Spain from 1767—the first was published April 4 and the second on July 5. These documents pertain to the settlement of six thousand Catholic Flemish and German settlers in Sierra Morena. Both are certified by Don Ignacio Esteban de Higareda, advisor to the king. Both documents were printed in the Office of Don Antonio Sanz, official printer of the king and his counsel. 

The marbling is one of my favorites that I’ve seen—a fantasy pattern in purple, red, and cream. Something particularly interesting (to me, anyway!) is the evidence of light damage on the marbling, especially on the back of the first book shown here (the third image). You can see that the top of the book has been bleached quite light, while the left side has been bleached slightly less and the right side is still its original color. From this we can tell something about how the book has been stored—there was most likely a smaller book or bookend in front of it near a window or other light source for quite some time, causing the top to bleach while the bottom stayed bright! At some point, an even smaller book blocked just the bottom right side, causing the left side to bleach a bit as well. These are not the original bindings for these documents (our best guess is that these are 20th century bindings) and evidence of light damage can be seen on all sides of the covers shown here.

All of our books here in Special Collections are kept in darkened spaces for the most part—we only turn the lights on when a person is in the stacks and needs to see! This helps prevent light damage like you see here. If you have special books you want to keep looking nice, we recommend keeping them in the dark!

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Marbled Monday

For Marbled Monday this week, I’m sharing three books about Ireland that are bound in the same lovely marbled paper. They are: 

Substance of the Speech of the Right Honourable Lord Sheffield: Monday, April 22, 1799; Upon the Subject of Union with Ireland

A Sketch of the State of Ireland, Past and Present by John Wilson Croker, 1822.  

A Reply to a Pamphlet Entitled, Arguments For and Against an Union by Richard Jebb, Esq., 1799.

All three of these books are no longer in their original bindings, having been rebound to match one another using this marbled paper. Each book is fully bound in fantasy patterned paper that is teal, green, and pinkish red. They all have tan paper labels on the spine that are printed with the title of the book and the date of publication. And, just by coincidence, my nail polish nearly matches the pinkish red in the paper, as seen in the sixth picture shown here!

Now, I would like to note that it is not usually a good idea to wear nail polish when handling rare books and archival materials—it’s possible for the polish to transfer color to the paper and leave a mark. However, I use gel polish, which is set into a hard polymer using an LED light. Because of the curing process (and possibly the layer of clear top coat), no color transfer happens when you drag your nail across the page! Ah, the miracles of modern science.

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