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 [BASKERVILLE
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The Book of Common Prayer"Amongst the several mechanic Arts that have engaged my attention, there is no one which I have pursued with so much steadiness and pleasure, as that of Letter-Founding. Having been an early admirer of the beauty of Letters, I became insensibly desirous of contributing to the perfection of them. I formed to my self Ideas of greater accuracy than had yet appeared, and have endeavoured to produce a Sett of Types according to what I conceived to be their true proportion." -John Baskerville Baskerville's "works are among the finest examples of the art of printing." -Britannica FIRST BASKERVILLE EDITION of the Book of Common Prayer, in an elegant contemporary binding. "In January 1758 Baskerville made an application to the University of Cambridge for leave to print an octavo prayer book (the university held the sole rights for this title jointly with the king's printer in London) and proposed to send two presses and workmen to Cambridge as soon as a place could be found for them. He was appointed university printer in December 1758, with permission to print two octavo prayer books... These projects were far from remunerative. Baskerville paid the university £20 for every 1000 copies of the octavo prayer book. Moreover in granting him his title, which he had leave to use only on these two projects, the university did not restrict the output of their existing university printer, Joseph Bentham, who continued to print prayer books and a folio Bible with the Cambridge imprint... [The Book of Common Prayer] appeared in two different versions, with and without a border of type ornaments to each page (DNB; Straus and Dent, 97). This copy is Gaskell group 1, impression with type ornament borders. With B8, C6, C7, and D2 uncancelled. Complete with the occasional prayers, not found in all copies, and with the rare state of gathering 2p, noted by Gaskell in only 3 copies, containing Form of Prayer for 25 October (accession of George III), mention of Queen Charlotte (married to the King on 8 September 1761), and proclamation dated 7 October 1761. Gaskell 12; Griffiths 1760/4. Cambridge: John Baskerville for B. Dod in London, 1760 [i. e., 1761]. [347] leaves, including initial blank. Large ocatvo, contemporary green morocco handsomely gilt with urn border on covers, neatly rebacked with original spine laid-down; marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Early 19th-century letterpress Morning Hymn and Evening Hymn mounted on verso of front flyleaf and recto of initial blank. Binding with only a hint of wear, a little spotting to title page, otherwise text extremely clean. A beautiful copy. $1800. |