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Bibliographies
and some
Other Useful Works
Bibliography of works on, about, or mentioning Mosher
Bibliographies of the Mosher Books
Bishop, Philip R.
Thomas Bird Mosher -- Pirate Prince of Publishers.
A Comprehensive Bibliography & Source Guide to The Mosher Books Reflecting
England's National Literature & Design. With an Introduction by William
E. Fredeman. New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press; London: The British
Library, 1998. xvi, 536 pp. (including 44-page descriptive
index); 230 illustrations and eight-page color section; tables, charts,
graphs. Entries arranged in alphabetical order by book title.
This groundbreaking work describes the books produced by the American
publisher, Thomas Bird Mosher, whose editions helped convey England's
literature and design to the American public. The penetrating and
insightful introduction by Dr. William E. Fredeman, one of the foremost
Pre-Raphaelite scholars of our day, gives the much fuller context within
which Mosher promulgated his unique publishing venture. Additionally,
Fredeman describes the full array of extraordinary features found in this
work. This exhaustive study not only provides abundant new primary
research, including new evidence on royalties paid, but also presents the
material in a novel way. An overview with tables & graphs, and a set of
highly useful appendices, neatly combine and cross-reference with the
work's primary bibliography. Also, for the first time, the reader is
presented with two check-lists of Mosher Press publications later printed
by Mosher's "successors." The book's opening section is particularly
useful in clearly presenting the various series, privately printed books,
and books printed on vellum. The section on binders and bindings
(illustrated in full color) adds yet another dimension showing the respect
Mosher's imprints command. There is also a revealing section presenting
both acclaims and criticisms of Mosher's publishing. A descriptive index,
and an annotated and cross-referenced bibliography on Mosher himself,
round out the book's strengths.
Hatch, Benton L., compiler and editor.
A Check List of the Publications of Thomas Bird Mosher of Portland
Maine MDCCCXCI MDCCCCXXIII With a Biographical Essay by Ray Nash.
Amherst, MA: Printed at the Gehenna Press for the University of
Massachusetts Press, 1966.
215 pp., including a 42-page index.
Nineteen tipped in title page facsimiles, and three other illustrations
accompany the text. Entries are arranged chronologically by year of
publication.
A pioneering effort of great merit, and the primary bibliography for many
years. This bibliography is beautifully printed on Fabriano paper under
Leonard Baskin (pressman Harold McGrath) at The Gehenna Press. The work
should be consulted for extensive details on pagination, and is referenced
many times in Bishop's Thomas Bird Mosher -- Pirate Prince of
Publishers. There is an excellent biographical essay on pp. 9-39 by
Ray Nash (unfortunately Nash does not give the location sources for three
critical documents cited or quoted at length), and the bibliography
contains a comprehensive index.
Ransom, Will.
Selective Check Lists of Press Books. A Compilation of All
Important & Significant Private Presses, or Press Books Which Are
Collected. New York: Philip C. Duschnes, 1945
(Reprinted, New York: James Cummins, 1992), pp. 182-210.
The 336 entries are divided between The Mosher Books, and privately
printed books of The Mosher Press. This was the first nearly comprehensive
bibliography of Mosher's publications aside from the Mosher catalogues
themselves, and lists the first appearances within each series. It also
cross-references to the same title published in different series.
Vilain, Jean-François, and Philip R. Bishop.
"Addenda & Corrigenda" in Thomas Bird Mosher and the Art of the
Book. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company, 1992.
viii, 112 pp.; 71 black & white photo-illustrations; 6-page index.
"Addenda & Corrigenda" arranged by Hatch number; catalogue entries
arranged by series;
This Temple University exhibition catalogue commemorated the
100th
anniversary of the books published by Thomas Bird Mosher, and reassesses
his place in publishing history as a more central figure in the American
revival of the printing arts. Widely known as a literary pirate, the study
also shows him to be a "graphics pirate", borrowing much from English
artists. It offers new research on Mosher's designs, methods and sources.
The catalogue accompanied an exhibition at Temple University (summer
1992), and contains seventy-one black and white photographs in addition to
detailed entries for books and materials exhibited. The work also contains
10 pages of additions to Hatch in the 'Addenda & Corrigenda' section
A Sampling of Other Useful Sources
Amphora - A Second Collection of Prose and Verse Chosen by the
Editor of The Bibelot. Portland, Maine: The Mosher Press, 1926.
The second Amphora is meant to be a companion piece to the first
one published in 1912, and contains ten contributions by Mosher. The
several tributes to Mosher include the sonnet "October, in Memory of
Thomas Bird Mosher" by Thomas Jones; a dedication "To Thomas Bird Mosher"
by Spencer Miller, Jr.; a tribute entitled "Forewords" by John L. Foley;
another tribute "A Golden String" written by Christopher Morley; and a
character sketch of Mosher entitled "Aldi Discipulus Americanus" written
by Frederick A. Pottle.
Bishop, Philip. R.
"Thomas Bird Mosher-Publishing Prince ... or Pirate?"
BIBLIO - The Magazine for Collectors of Books, Manuscripts, and
Ephemera. Vol. 2, No. 7. Eugene, Oregon: Aster Publishing Corporation,
July 1997, pp. 38 - 45.
The front cover call-outs advertise the article inside as "The Princely
Picaroon of Publishing." This illustrated article presents a general
overview of Mosher's life, motivations, publishing program, and selling
techniques. Two sidebars present the current retail market prices for key
Mosher imprints, and sources for additional information on the Mosher
Press.
Crichton, Laurie W.
Book Decoration in America 1890-1910. A Guide to an Exhibition by
Laurie W. Crichton. Revised by Wayne G. Hammond [and] Robert L. Volz.
Williamstown, MA: Chapin Library, Williams College, 1979, pp. 17-18,
45-47, and plates on pp. 73-74.
Crichton's book is a most useful reference. While generally a reliable
work on book design of the period, Crichton omits the cover designer of
Mimes and missed the clear reference Mosher gives to the designer of the
pictorial frontispiece and the two headband illustrations (plus a
tail-piece) in Aucassin & Nicolete. Both of these designers were
easily identified from Mosher's own readily available sources. Mosher's
1901 A list of Books... provides the cover designer's name for Mimes: Earl
Stetson Crawford. With regard to the Old World Aucassin & Nicolete,
the designer's "PH" monogram is cited in Crichton, but there is no further
identification. The information on the designer is found in Mosher's own
explanation of the monogram as standing for P. Jacomb Hood (see his "Note"
on the verso of the half-title).
Strouse, Norman H.
The Passionate Pirate. North Hills, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1964.
The contents of this first and still only biography of Mosher in book form
includes the following chapters: Seafarer, Pirate, Publisher, Anthologist,
Bibliophile, and Aldus of the XIX Century. A Checklist (by series) appears
at the end of this book. For a review of this biography, see James Moran's
review in The Black Art. Vol. 3, No. 3. London: Published by James
Moran (Printed by Thomas Rae Ltd-Scotland), 1964/65, front cover and pp.
81-83.
Thompson, Susan Otis.
American Book Design and William Morris. Foreword by
Jean-François Vilain. London: The British Library, and New Castle, DE:
Oak Knoll Press, 1996
(reprint of the original R.R. Bowker Company edition of 1977).
The standard discussion on printing around the time Mosher
published, with
an excellent chapter entitled "Thomas Bird Mosher: The Aesthetic Pirate,"
pp. 190-197. The foreword mentions or discusses Mosher on pp. xix, xx,
xxv-xxvi. Mosher is also mentioned as one of three influences on Will
Ransom (p. 135). There are a few corrections to Thompson's section on
Mosher. On page 194 she mentions "the Hatch bibliography reveals nineteen
titles by Morris..." This is a little misleading. There were fifteen
titles published, but when factoring in the duplication between series,
one comes up with a total of nineteen books. On p. 195, line 9, one should
read "eighth" rather than "seventh." Also on page 194 she mentions there
were "seven Kelmscott Press books in Mosher's personal library."
Subsequent research reveals there were at least fourteen Kelmscotts on his
shelves. Lastly, Thompson notes on p. 195 that Mosher used Jenson type as
a text face at least once, on George Meredith: a Tribute by J. M.
Barrie.
In actuality Mosher used it as a text face on at least four other
occasions: Hand and Soul, Empedocles on Etna, and on In Praise
of Omar.
Together these are rather small corrections compared to the overall
strength of the original chapter nestled within a "classic" on American
book design.
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