Ursus Typographicus; | A Chronology of Bears by fourteen artists | Texts & Commentary by Crispin & Jan Elsted.
[Mission, B.C.]: Barbarian Press, 2017 [given in Roman numerals]. Oblong duodecimo, 14 x 19.6 cm. Cased in quarter grey morocco. The leather has been stamped on the upper cover with a bear paw device designed by Alex McGuckin; the paw’s ‘plantar pad’ forms ‘ELSTED’. The case is further accented with matching morocco tips, and its covering paper is patterned with repeating bear paw prints, which alternate between blue and grey; grey morocco label to the spine, lettered in silver. Housed in a matching silk covered slipcase; top edges cut, others untrimmed; plain black endpapers. Unpaginated [pp. 72]. A fine copy. The text was set in Jan van Krimpen’s Van Dijck type, with John Peters’ Castellar used for display. The paw tracks used to decorate the covers were printed from polymer plates made by David Clifford and Yasmine Franchi of Black Stone Press. The binding was done by Alanna Simenson at the Mad Hatter Bookbinding Company. Embellished with a wood engraved frontispiece, printer’s marks, and a colophon device by Andy English. The book is further illustrated and embellished with press devices, and occasionally other printer’s marks, from Louis Turpin, Edwina Ellis, Colin Paynton, John DePol, Barry Moser, Wesley Bates, Ted Staunton, Simon Brett, Gerard Brender à Brandis, Abigail Rorer, Peter Lazarov, Andy English, Nancy Ruth Jackson, and John Lawrence. From an edition of 100 copies for sale, the present copy being number 71. Signed in pencil by Crispin and Jan Elsted on the verso opposite the colophon page. Item #236
‘Ursus Typographicus’ was published in the fall of 2017 to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Barbarian Press.
Price: $650.00