THE TABLES OF THE LAW
Inscribed to Helen Federico by Paul Rand
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann: THE TABLES OF THE LAW. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945. First US edition. Octavo. Green cloth stamped in gold. Photographically printed dust jacket. 64 pp. Small closed tear to jacket top edge. Cover, jacket design and typography by Paul Rand. Pencil INSCRIPTION on front free endpaper. A fine copy in a nearly fine dust jacket. Rare in this condition.
INSCRIBED BY PAUL RAND: "For Helen [Federico] / Paul / 6-15-45." Gene and Helen Federico were lifelong friends and colleagues of Paul Rand. Helen worked as Rand's assistant at the William Weintraub Agency at the time this edition was published.
The outstanding characteristic of the Federicos is that these two graphic artists operate successfully and maintain their artistic integrity in a world which is by and large unsympathetic to artists in general and to the problems involved in their work . . .
. . . It is perhaps not amiss in these troubled and troublesome times to note the sociological as well as the cultural contributions of sincere, gifted young artists like the Federicos. They not only seek and affirm a higher standard in the all-important communicative arts but they are in their roles of artists with integrity, are to be numbered among that small but potent minority who strive in an age of increasing "conformism" and mass-produced mediocrity to live and create as individuals, who seek inspiration rather than security in tradition, and who in their work testify to their belief in the creative vitality of the human being. -- Paul Rand: "Gene And Helen Federico" in GRAPHIS 43 [Zurich: Graphis Press 1952. Volume 8, No. 43, 1952, pg. 394].
6.5 x 9.5 hardcover book with 64 pages, featuring Paul Rand's elaborate graphic design and typography throughout. The story of the early life of Moses, of his preparations for leading his people out of Egypt, of the exodus itself and incidents at the oasis Kadesh and of the engraving of the stone tables of the law at Sinai. (From the cover) Translated from the German [Das Gesetz] by H. T. Lowe-Porter.