[Printed on Vellum | Reed Pale Press] The Book of Ruth

The Book of Ruth. London: Reed Pale Press, 1934. As noted in the colophon: "Two hundred and fifty copies of the ‘Book of Ruth’ have been printed for the Reed Pale Press by the De La More Press, of which ten copies are on vellum and the rest on handmade paper." This volume is one of the ten copies printed on thick, lustrous vellum and has been bound in full dark navy morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. The design of the binding recalls early S&S/Douglas Cockerell arts & crafts bookbindings, with the covers divided into four compartments by dual gilt-ruled arms and borders, joining at the center with a large hand-tooled circular & interweaved design, reminiscent of a Celtic cross. Five bands to spine, all ruled in gilt and extending onto the front and rear covers, the title to the second and third compartments, and Reed Pale Press device to bottom of spine. Turn-ins ruled in gilt. Printed in red & black in Gothic type. 11 leaves of vellum, 4 blank flyleaves at front and rear on Whatman paper. Inscription from the printer on front flyleaf ("To Roxy from Edmund"). Original cardboard slipcase. Measures approx. 7" x 9.25". A few minor scuffs to covers. A beautiful example.

Founded by Edmund W. Brooks, son of famed Minneapolis book dealer Edmund D. Brooks, the Reed Pale Press debuted in 1928 with Charles Lamb's The Child Angel, which was set by hand and printed on a hand press by Brooks. The press issued four volumes between 1928 and 1935, with a final volume (The Journal of a Forty-Niner) published in 1967. The name of the press is derived from Caxton's printing location, established in 1476, in the almonry at Westminster at the "Sign of the Red Pale," and its printer's device contains an heraldic "red pale" (a single vertical stripe occupying a shield's center).