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Black semi-flexible vinyl portfolio album (625 x 485 mm) containing 48 mylar sleeves, of which 46 contain decorated paper specimens (132 altogether). Some paper specimens have adhesive on verso from previous mounting and/or previous binding. Overall in excellent condition. AN OUTSTANDING SELF-CONTAINED ARCHIVE OF AN UNUSUALLY BROAD ARRAY OF DECORATED PAPERS, 132 IN ALL, DATING MAINLY FROM THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, PRESERVED IN A VERY LARGE PORTFOLIO ALBUM, SUITABLE FOR EXHIBITION AND IMMEDIATE RESEARCH BY, AND INSPIRATION FOR, STUDENTS OF THE BOOK ARTS AND DECORATIVE ARTS, AS IS ATTESTED BY THE 77 IMAGES ON OUR WEBSITE. This extraordinary archive was formed by world-renown calligrapher and book historian Paul Standard, and is tantamount to a working laboratory of decorated papers from Northern Europe and Italy. It is probable that Standard used at least some of these paper specimens for classroom instruction in his courses at Cooper Union and NYU. The archive contains no less than 33 "Dutch gilt" / "Brokatpapier" embossed papers, including two actual Edinburgh theses (both 1784) with their "Dutch gilt" wrappers still in-situ, as well as marbled papers, block-printed papers, paste papers, and bronze-varnish papers. Cataloguing the entire collection awaits future researchers, but we note with great interest the signature: "I C M - N 40." This was Johann Carl Munck (active ca. 1750, d. 1794), one of the most famous Augsburg decorated papermaker of the 18th century. The "N 40" indicator following his monogram refers to the design number, in this case #40, which remained UNKNOWN to Haemmerle, Buntpapier (1977), who lists I C M nos. 1-224, but was only able to locate 36 of them. The sizes of the paper sheets vary greatly, from small (123 x 64 mm) to gigantic (705 x 527 mm), which for reasons of space were folded in half. Many (most?) were removed from the outside of bookbindings or the inside of books, and consequently have characteristic adhesive on the versos (not objectionable). Others, including some of the phenomenal German gilt papers, were never used and are rare in such original condition. In a few instances the decorated papers are still affixed to their original (thin) original boards. When there were two specimens from a single sheet, Standard retained both of them. Therefore, by our reckoning there are ca. 115 difference decorated papers represented in 132 separate pieces. PROVENANCE: Paul Standard (1896-1992), Russian-born calligrapher, author and translator. Standard was the author of "Calligraphy's Flowering, Decay and Restoration," "Our Handwriting," and "Arrighi's Running Hand." Charles Skaggs (who also taught calligraphy at Cooper Union) wrote of him: "Here we have Arrighi's most devoted and scholarly advocate. At Cooper Union and New York University, Standard taught the pure, straight stuff, both as to the mechanics of pen management and to the legitimate variations of the Italian renaissance hand. Basics came before personal frills." [.] "He delights in a stubborn anachronism that charms all who are privileged to know him." MUST BE SEEN TO BE FULLY APPRECIATED.
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