[The Curwen Press, Plaistow.] Two keepsakes: [Basil Harley, James Shurmer] ‘Unicornucopia: A study of the Natural History of the amazing Unicorns living at The Curwen Press’ and [Basil Harley, John Miles] ‘The Curwen Press / A Short History’.

Author: 
The Curwen Press, Plaistow [Basil Hurley, John Miles, James Shurmer]
Curwen
Publication details: 
Unicornucopia: Dated in text to 1973. 'Booklet designed by / James Shurmer / printed at / The Curwen Press / London E13 9HJ'. 'The Curwen Press / A Short History' with final section dated 'August 1970'.
£120.00
SKU: 25320

Two attractive pieces of Curwen Press ephemera. 'Cornucopia' is scarce: no copy at the British Library, and the only two copies on JISC at Lancaster and Aberystwyth. The 'Short History' is better represented. ONE: 'Cornucopia'. 12pp, landscape 12mo. Stapled into illustrated wraps. Printed in brown on cream paper. Booklet designed by James Shurmer, with text by Basil Harley. Many illustrations of unicorns arranged in eight 'plates'. Internally in good condition, but front cover grubby, and blank back cover stained. TWO: 'The Curwen Press / A Short History'. 39pp, small 4to. In grey card wraps with 'CURWEN PRESS' in white on cover, and red endpapers. With frontispiece portrait of John Curwen, and fourteen pages of illustrations printed in black and shades of red. Text by Basil Hurley, design by John Miles. Colophon: 'The text is set in Monotype Dante, a type-face designed by Giovanni Mardersteig and introduced to The Curwen Press in 1959. The title page and chapter headings are in Curwen Titling, Harold Curwen's own type cut in 1928. The book has been designed by John Miles and is printed by letterpress and offset at The Curwen Press on Grosvenor Chater's Glastonbury Pure White Antique Laid.' See Image