MODERN LETTERING: DESIGN AND APPLICATION
H. C. Perleberg [Publisher]
H. C. Perleberg [Publisher]: MODERN LETTERING: DESIGN AND APPLICATION. Philadelphia: H. C. Perleberg, n. d. (ca. 1930). Original edition. Portfolio. Cloth and chipboard portfolio with printed label. 20 loose broadside plates (including title page) on heavy stock, laid loose into cardboard portfolio with paper label. Harold Hugošs printeršs bookplate inside front cover. A fine example. [20] 11 x 14 broadside plates demonstrating the latest in (mostly) European Art Deco and Bauhaus typographic design. Includes print samples, monograms, multiple complete alphabets, and full alphabets designed by Josef Albers and A. M. Cassandre. A lavish and elaborate portfolio obviously produced in a very limited edition. The portfolio has a distinctive hand-assembled feel, and the broadsides look and feel like either gravures or collotypes. Very interesting indeed.
A mysterious document containing practically no information about its origins or purpose. The implied provenance from Harold Hugošs printeršs bookplate pasted inside the front cover offeres a good starting point. Mr. Hugo was the president of the Meriden Gravure Company, one of the most famous and respected printing houses in the United States. The Meriden Gravure Company specialized in illustrated books and ephemera, and printed everything from fine artists' books to illustrated postcards and catalogs. They completed the printing of fine art books for many small publishing houses, including Domesday Press, Spiral Press, Stinehour Press, Southworth-Anthoesen Press, Beilenson, Peter , and Kindle Press.
From the New York Times obituary published on October 5, 1985: "E. Harold Hugo, the retired president of the Meriden Gravure Company, died Sept. 9 at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. He was 85 years old and lived in Meriden, Conn. . . . Under Mr. Hugo's leadership, the company won international renown for the quality of its art reproductions, posters and illustrations for books and catalogues. . . . He began working part time at the Meriden Gravure Company when he was 14. During World War II, he became general manager and in 1950 was named a director. He became president in 1969 and retired in 1975. . . . In 1984, he received the W. A. Dwiggins Award from the Book Builders of Boston for distinction in graphic arts and printing."
We now know who owned this portfolio. The only question now is: who was H. C. Perleberg of Philadelphia?
Price: $250.00
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