Leo Wyatt's Little Book of Alphabets. With an Introduction by Michael Taylor.
(Florin Press) Wyatt (Leo).
Published by 8vo, pp.[xii],12 leaves (rectos only), colophon, Florin Press, Biddenden, Kent, 1985.
Used
Hardcover
From
Collinge & Clark, London, United Kingdom
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
AbeBooks Seller since August 16, 2000
This specific copy is no longer available. Here are our closest matches for Leo Wyatt's Little Book of Alphabets. With an Introduction by Michael Taylor..
About this Item
Description:
Number 10 of 150 copies printed on Barcham Green paper (with Florin Press watermark) initialled by the printer. Text set in Janson Antiqua. Title-page and 12 wood-engraved alphabets by Leo Wyatt, each done in a different colour, using inks ground by hand, press device by Simon Brett. Quarter magenta leather, titled in gilt down the spine, parchment-covered boards with leather label. A fine copy in its slipcase. These superb blocks were some of the last cut by this master engraver before his death in 1981. They were reprinted by the Press in 1988. Provenance: Graham Williams "re-inherited" this copy. The colophon is inscribed to his mother-in law "for Miriam [Gabo], I'm glad you like the colours. Love Graham.". Seller Inventory # 13581
Bibliographic Details
Title: Leo Wyatt's Little Book of Alphabets. With ...
Publisher: 8vo, pp.[xii],12 leaves (rectos only), colophon, Florin Press, Biddenden, Kent, 1985.
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Fine
Edition: Limited Edition
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Leo Wyatt's Little Book of Alphabets. With an Introduction by Michael Taylor.
Published by
[Biddenden, Kent:] The Florin Press, 1985., 1985
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Michael R. Thompson Books, A.B.A.A., Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 1 out of 5 stars
The twelve alphabets include: Uncial; Gothic; Lombardic; Decorated Roman; Modern; Incline Roman; Calligraphic Roman; Calligraphic; Block Letter; Copperplate; Pen Script; and Flourished Script. Octavo. Unpaginated. Includes twelve plates of upper-case alphabets in various colors, printed in inks ground by hand, on Barcham Green paper with the Florin Press watermark. Printer's device by Simon Brett. Quarter burgundy leather over cream-colored paper boards, gilt spine, gilt front cover label. Slight oxidation to label. A near fine copy in slipcase. First edition, one of 150 numbered copies, hand-printed on two Albion presses, from the original wood blocks in Betty Wyatt's collection. Leo Wyatt died in1981. Seller Inventory # 14379
Quantity: 1 available
Leo Wyatt's Little Book of Alphabets, with an Introduction by Michael Taylor
Published by
The Florin Press, Biddenden, Kent, 1985
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Type & Forme ABA, PBFA, ILAB, Grantham, LINCS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Calf-backed boards. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Quarto (188 x 142mm), pp. [2 (blank l.)], [6 (title, verso blank, additional-title, verso blank, dedication, verso blank)], [4 (introduction)], [2 (contents, verso blank)], [24 (alphabets numbered 1 to 12 and printed on rectos only)] [2 (colophon, verso blank)], [2 (imprint, verso blank)], [2 (blank l.)]. Wood-engraved additional title and 12 numbered plates of alphabets printed in colours, all by and after Wyatt, and integral to the quires, wood-engraved press device by and after Simon Brett. Original maroon calf backed parchment boards by Smith Settle, gilt morocco lettering-piece on upper board, spine lettered in gilt, top edges cut, others uncut, cream endpapers, paper-covered slipcase. (Slipcase slightly rubbed, some light spotting on binding and slipcase.) A very good copy. Provenance: David and Diana Wilson. ¶¶¶First edition, no. 120 of 150 copies initialled by Graham Williams. The engraver and designer Leo Wyatt (1909-1981) first learned engraving in a commercial context at Dacier Box Ltd while also studying at the Central School of Arts and Crafts under G.T. Friend and winning several scholarships. He then worked as a freelance designer and engraver in and around London. After living in South Africa from 1947 onwards he returned to England as a visiting lecturer at the College of Art and Industrial Design in Newcastle upon Tyne. (See Elizabeth Lomas, Guide to the Archive of Art and Design, Victoria & Albert Museum (London and New York, 2001), no. 235). As the introduction explains, 'Leo Wyatt was in his late fifties when he turned to wood engraving from his established career designing and engraving steel dies and copperplates for the printing trade. Actively encouraged by Beatrice Warde [. . .] and fired by a marginal note' in Paul Standard's Calligraphy's Flowering, Decay and Restauration 'that described Reynolds Stone as "seemingly the sole practitioner of the Chancery Cursive letter in engraved form today", Leo Wyatt took up a piece of end grain boxwood and began' (Introduction). Over the following years, Wyatt became best known for his aphorisms and alphabets which were printed by Will Carter at the Rampant Lion Press and others. It was the enthusiastic reception of his work in the United States that 'encouraged him to begin work on A Little Book of Alphabets. The twelve alphabets and their title-page were all engraved on boxwood, supplied by S.T.E. Lawrence, in the studio at his home in Newcastle upon Tyne. Outline designs of the alphabets were first incised on mica, then dusted with chalk and transferred to the prepared blocks'. The blocks were essentially completed by October 1978, but were not published during his lifetime, although his widow Betty's recollections 'make it clear that Leo Wyatt intended this book to express a late flowering of confidence and to show the creative possibilities of letter-forms engraved in wood' (Introduction). This first edition by the Florin Press was printed by hand on two Albion presses from the original wood blocks, and the coloured inks were largely ground by hand from dry pigment and prepared varnish. The text was handset in Original Janson Antiqua, and the paper is the first made specially for the Florin Press by Barcham Green. This was also the first use of the press device cut for the Florin Press by Simon Brett. This copy is from the library of the late David and Diana Wilson. David Wilson was collector of private press publications, and also a friend and collaborator of Graham Williams, the founder of the Florin Press. ¶¶¶FURTHER INFORMATION: please contact us for further information about this item and prices for shipping. Seller Inventory # 002890
Quantity: 1 available