[KELMSCOTT PRESS]. COCKERELL, Sydney C. (1867-1962). Some German Woodcuts of the Fifteenth Century. Hammersmith: The Kelmscott Press, 1897 [issued 1898].

4to (285 x 209 mm). Printed in Golden type in black and red, 35 reproductions of early woodcuts (process blocks by Walker & Boutall) printed on rectos only of 23 sheets, each with printed caption, printer's device. (Slight marginal staining from binding pigment upper corner.) A VARIANT BINDING, POSSIBLY UNIQUE (see below), original dark green limp vellum, tan silk ties, spine gilt-lettered in Golden type, yapp edges (some very light wear to pigment at extremities, tiny stain on lower cover, otherwise fine); half morocco slipcase. Provenance: Sydney C. Cockerell (1867-1962), private secretary to William Morris, English Museum curator (signed in ink and dated "S. C. Cockerell April 1898"); Edith Rockefeller McCormick (1872-1932), American Socialite (bookplate on verso of third blank leaf; sold Anderson Galleries, 23 February 1934, lot 308).

ONE OF 8 COPIES PRINTED ON VELLUM. SIGNED BY SYDNEY COCKERELL & WITH WILLIAM MORRIS'S SIGNATURE pasted inside lower cover. Original letterpress prospectus laid in.

IN A VARIANT BINDING not mentioned in Cockerell or Peterson, who both call for the work to be bound in quarter holland, with printed blue paper over boards. The present copy with characteristic Golden type gilt lettering on spine: "on the spines of the vellum bindings, Morris often used enlarged versions of the Golden and Troy Types" (Peterson p. xxxv). A few green vellum bindings by J. and J. Leighton of London for the Kelmscott Press are known. In his "Annotated List of All the Books Printed at the Kelmscott Press in the Order in Which They Were Issued", Cockerell mentions four copies of The Story of the Glittering Plain printed on vellum which "Mr. Morris had...bound in green vellum, three of which he gave to friends." The Estelle Doheny collection included a copy of The Floure and the Leafe... in a "possibly unique" vellum binding; that work was also only issued in quarter holland, but the Doheny copy was accompanied by a letter from Cockerell to H. Buxton Forman explaining that "no copies of the Floure & the Leafe were issued officially in vellum, but there was a man at Hinchley who used to get us to bind his copies of the half holland books in vellum" (see her sale, Christie's New York, 19 May 1989, Lot 2343).

One of 8 copies printed on vellum of a total edition of 233. At Morris's request, starting in October 1892, Cockerell spent several years studying and cataloguing Morris's collection of medieval manuscripts and incunabula; resulting from this project, Morris planned to issue a heavily illustrated catalogue of his library. After Morris's death, the project was abandoned. Rather than print the work elsewhere, Cockerell "decided to combine the illustrations of woodcuts that had already been prepared... with portions of an article by Morris, 'On the Artistic Qualities of the Woodcut Books of Ulm and Augsburg in the Fifteenth Century.' ...The book sold briskly before publication. 'There has been a great rush on the German woodcuts & they were all sold out last week,' Cockerell wrote to Leighton on 30 November 1897.'...A good many people have been left out in the cold, as orders keep coming in! I suppose it is the announcement that the Press is closing that has made people so eager'" (Peterson). Cockerell 49; Peterson A49.

Edith Rockefeller McCormick, daughter of John D. Rockefeller, married Harold Fowler McCormick, son of Cyrus Hall McCormick, and was prominent in Chicago social and cultural circles, supporting numerous social causes. She was a charter member of the Art Institute, supporting it both financially and with loans of works from her extensive art collection. McCormick also helped found the Grand Opera Company in 1909. A generous contributor to the Zurich Psychological society, she spearheaded the effort to have Carl Jung's writings translated into English. The sale of her library in 1934 included over 120 works by John Ruskin bound by the Doves Bindery, as well as 9 works printed on vellum by the Kelmscott Press.

AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE COPY, RARE PRINTED ON VELLUM, IN A VARIANT BINDING: We trace no copies of Some German Woodcuts printed on vellum at auction; we find no other copy of this work thus bound in vellum.

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Gretchen Hause joined the Books and Manuscripts Department at Hindman Auctions in 2017, after working for nearly 8 years as a specialist in the Books and Manuscripts Department at Christie’s in New York. During her tenure at Hindman, Gretchen has handled numerous books and maps for record prices, including the superb Mellon-Garden copy of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, sold in 2019 for the world auction record price of $564,500. She also secured and sold a rare copy of Palmatary’s 1857 pre-fire view of Chicago (the only copy in private hands) for nearly $200,000, and secured and auctioned a copy of Ratzer’s fine Plan of the City of New York for a world auction record $162,500.

In 2023, Gretchen secured the Fine Literature from the Collection of Richard C. McKenzie. The white-glove sale was 100% sold by lot, realizing nearly double the high estimate. In that same year, she served as head of sale for the Private Collection of Secretary Madeleine K. Albright, another white-glove sale which realized more than three times the low estimate. In 2019, Gretchen was responsible for the sale of the Library of a Midwestern Collector. The 86-lot sale achieved a record total for any sale for the department, setting the world auction record for Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and bringing strong prices for several scientific works, works on computing, and other notable high spots. In 2018, she secured and handled the Fine Cartographic and Printed Americana Collection of Eric and Evelyn Newman, which was 97% sold by lot, achieving the highest sale total at the time for a single-session auction in department history, and bringing several record prices. She also organized the successful sale of The Adventure & Exploration Library of Steve Fossett. The two-session sale realized a department record sold total at the time, and achieved a 100% sell through rate.

Prior to joining Hindman Auctions, Gretchen spent nearly 8 years in the Books and Manuscripts department at Christie’s in New York. While at Christie’s, she contributed to the successful sales of several collections, including the Dorothy Shea collection of fore-edge paintings (96% sold by lot) and duplicates from the Warren H. Corning Library of the Holden Arboretum, which were 95% sold by lot in 2013 to benefit the acquisitions fund. She also helped catalogue the Cornelius J. Hauck Private Botanical Library (92% sold by lot in 2016), and the American Literature collection of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, which was 95% sold by lot. She had the opportunity to work on a number of landmark single-owner sales, including those of the collections of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan and Huguette Clark, and the libraries of Kenneth Nebenzahl (exploration and maps), Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow (the art of book illustration), and Jean Perrette (travel and exploration), as well as the sale of the iconic Kelmscott printing press.

Gretchen has attended introductory and advanced bibliography and history of bookbinding courses at Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, and holds a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature. She studied primarily British literature, with emphases in medieval and modern literature. Gretchen is a member of the Grolier Club, the Caxton Club, the Washington Map Society, and the Chicago Map Society. She currently serves on the board as Treasurer for the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies. She is an auctioneer, and has nearly 15 years of experience working with rare books and manuscripts. In addition to her commitment to the bibliophilic community, Gretchen is committed to public service as well, and is currently serving a 6-year term as a publicly-elected Commissioner for the Berwyn Park District in her hometown.

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Fine Books and Manuscripts including Americana

[KELMSCOTT PRESS]. COCKERELL, Sydney C. (1867-1962). Some German Woodcuts of the Fifteenth Century. Hammersmith: The Kelmscott Press, 1897 [issued 1898].

Fine Books and Manuscripts including Americana

[KELMSCOTT PRESS]. COCKERELL, Sydney C. (1867-1962). Some German Woodcuts of the Fifteenth Century. Hammersmith: The Kelmscott Press, 1897 [issued 1898].

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