Galley Proof of Alice and Rollo Silver's 1972 Print of Walt Whitman's 'A Christmas Greeting'

(Whitman, Walt) Silver, Rollo G.; Alice Silver

Published by Massachusetts, 1972

About this Item

[2] leaves of typescript on carbon paper; [2] typescript leaves of mock-up materials. Rollo Silver (b.1909 - d.1989) was an American literary historian, an American book collector and historian of American printing, typography, and publishing as created by white people in the European printing tradition, and a librarian at the Peabody Institute in Boston from 1948 to 1950, after which he taught at Simmons. During his lifetime, Silver was a part of many organizations that spoke to his interests. He joined the bibliophilic Grolier Club and the Society of Printers; he was also one of the founding members of the American Printing Historical Association. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts as well as an honorary member of the Bibliographical Society of America. Silver also served as a trustee of Boston University and received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Brown University, his alma mater, in 1986. Silver began publishing essays on Walt Whitman in 1930, well before beginning his formal career as a scholar. He also collected many of Whitman's poems. Along with his wife Alice Gindin, he compiled a set of manuscripts and other works related to Whitman, and from 1928-1985 they designed and printed Christmas Greeting cards. Collected here is the black and white mock-up frontispiece and typescript galley proof, as well as two typescript leaves on carbon paper with a twenty-five line statement by Walt Whitman, beginning, "Political democracy, as it exists and practically works in America, with all its threatening evils, supplied a training-school for making first-class men." (1871). Galley mock-up of Rollo and Alice Silver's annual Walt Whitman Christmas card. Leaves folded horizontally for mailing, else near fine [2] leaves of typescript on carbon paper; [2] typescript leaves of mock-up materials.

Seller Inventory # 346278

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Galley Proof of Alice and Rollo Silver's 1972 Print of Walt Whitman's 'A Christmas Greeting'
• Publisher: Massachusetts
• Publication Date: 1972
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Art, Architecture & Design
  • Literature
  • Private Press