Under This Roof
Stratford, Ontario: [Gerard Brender à Brandis], 2016. Octavo, 19.2 x 13.5 cm. Cased in full grey linen. Blocked title and two inset cedar shingle offcuts, forming the image of a gable-end roof, to the upper cover. Housed in a green paper dust wrapper printed with the title to the front panel and ornaments to the rear panel. Onion-skin decorated endpapers. All edges untrimmed. Unpaginated [pp. 28, plus erratum slip tipped to the blank verso facing the colophon page]. A fine copy. The text was set in Libra and printed on Papeterie St-Gilles handmade rag paper. As the colophon relays, the paper was thirty years old by the time it was used for this book; and “less-than-ideal” storage conditions resulted in some mild discolouration to some of the edges. Illustrated with 18 wood engravings by Gerard Brender à Brandis. From an edition of 75 copies, this being number 48. The planned edition had been 90 copies, but mechanical problems with Brender à Brandis’ 1882 Albion hand-press reduced the number of copies printed to 75. In spite of the obstacles, and in keeping with Gerard’s standards, the book is beautifully made. Signed in pencil by the bookwright on the colophon page. Item #244
Price: $250.00