Floral-patterned endpapers in nineteenth-century American books.

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Illustrated printed wrappers, 4to, [183]-224 pp, 77 ills. An offprint from: Winterthur portfolio 12. Includes: "Catalog of selected nineteenth-century American endpapers"and Appendix: Binders represented in catalog of endpapers". From the introduction - "Expensive books produced in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often had ornately marbled or block printed endpapers that were decorated by hand, but not until the nineteenth century did economics allow binders to choose any but the plainest of papers for most books. Beginning about 1830, mechanization of the American bookbinding industry speeded assembly and lowered costs. As large quantities of the same book were bound identically, the decoration and materials lost the irregularities of hand work. But at the same time binders began giving more attention to endpapers that, by lithography and the use of color, were inexpensively decorated and enhanced the appearance, if not the quality, of the product. As early as 1841 repeating patterns characterized some stock endpapers. Binders used about thirty-five distinct endpaper designs in a limited class of books aimed at the gift market - especially annuals and poetry books - during the 1840s and 1850s.' Formal, precise, small-scale patterns, which were often composed from printers' ornaments were used for most designs. A few other patterns were plaids. In both, the colors were fresh and clear: reds, blues, greens, pinks, and some use of gold. About half were printed by letterpress, half by lithography. The use of these endpapers, however, was not widespread, and until the 1860s binders usually selected the less costly undecorated white papers." Presentation inscription signed by author at head of first page "for Iain Bain from Sue Allen". Very Good. N° de ref. del artículo ABE-47413

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