Books

Hammersmith: Doves Press, 1902. ONE OF 25 COPIES ON VELLUM (and 325 on paper). 234 x 165 mm. (9 1/4 x 6 1/2"). 55, [1] pp. Publisher's limp vellum by the Doves Bindery, flat spine with gilt titling. Printed in red and black. Front pastedown with bookplate of C. S. Ascherson (see below), dated 1902 in pencil. Tidcombe DP-4. ◆Boards a little wavy, minor (naturally occurring) variations in the grain of the covers, but a fine copy, the vellum leaves smooth, creamy, and bright, and the binding with few signs of wear. This is the luminous vellum printing of the fourth publication of the Doves Press, gathering a number of poems by Tennyson written at various times in his long life, all of them reflecting his abiding interest in Homer and Greek myth. In contrast to Kelmscott Press founder William Morris' proclivity toward the Baroque, Thomas J. Cobden-Sanderson, the Doves Press founder (along with Emery Walker), demonstrated that printing with plain type (designed by Walker) that is…