The Bird & Bull Press
Henry Morris' Bird & Bull Press is one of America's premier private presses, noted for their highly original and exquisitely designed and printed books. We have acquired one of the most complete collections of his books up to the last ten years; Mr. Morris once characterized it as the most complete collection outside the Newberry Library. The following volumes are currently for sale:
Highlights:
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BB-1. Adelman, Seymour. CHANGING PATTERNS IN THE FUNCTION OF TRAVEL AGENCIES. Philadelphia: Taylor & Hessey, 1981. 28 pp., printed wrappers. no. 170/400. First separate edition. A commission to the Bird & Bull Press, this is a talk given at the Franklin Inn Club, Philadelphia, on October 28, 1962, and first printed in a book of essays, The Moving Pageant, in 1977. Henry Morris considered it the most enjoyable article he had read on the subject (you, like me, will probably wonder how much he has read about travel agencies), and sent copies to his standing order customers. With a printed note from Morris. Fine. $25.00
BB-2.
BB-3. Bird & Bull Press. BIRD & BULL BON MOTS. A set of twelve hand printed pages with various quotes by Artemus Ward, Mark Twain, George Bernard Shaw, and others. No date (1980s) Matted to 8½" x 11". Some slightly wrinkled (being handmade paper); near fine. $35.00
BB-4. Bird & Bull Press. RARITIES OF NUMISMATA TYPOGRAPHICA: FOUR EXAMPLES OF EARLY DUTCH PRINTERS’ BOOKBINDERS’ & BOOKSELLERS’ GUILD MEDALS. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1996. No. 103 of 120 copies, two items in a cloth slip case: A book with descriptions of the medals by William Blades, and an introduction by Henry Morris, printed in November 1995 ; and a folding case with the four medals cast in sterling silver made by the Ronnie DaVinci Co. All are reproductions of 17th and 18th century medals. Fine. $200.00
The 45th Book from the Bird & Bull Press
BB-5. Bird & Bull Press. THE BIRD & BULL PRESS COMMEMORATIVE 100 CORONAS. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1988. By Henry Morris. No. 79 of 350 copies, bound by Claudia Cohen. With a one-ounce .999 fine silver encapsulated proof coin, No. 32 of 500. Includes the prospectus, all in a slip case. Fine. $150.00
BB-6. Bird & Bull Press. B & B BIBLIOPHILIC, TYPOGRAPHIC AND POLITICALLY CORRECT WRAPPING PAPER. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1995. Two dozen sheets of 11"x17" wrapping paper in four styles. Originally sent as a premium to customers with standing orders. Printed on Henry Morris' Webendorfer Little Chief offset press, another unusual turn for the press. Fine with a paper band and cover letter. $30.00
BB-7. Blades, William. NUMISMATICA TYPOGRAPHICA. Newtown: Bird and Bull Press, 1992. 4to, gray cloth, limited to 300 copies. The medallic history of printing; this is the only reprint of perhaps the scarcest work of this 19th century printing scholar. With a foreword by Henry Morris. Includes 24 pages of line plates depicting the medals described. Includes the prospectus. Near fine. $200.00
BB-8. Bliss, Cary S. (ed.) A PAIR ON PRINTING. North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1982. Limited to 500 copies. Facsimile reproductions of Richard Atkyns’ The Original and Growth of Printing (1664) and William Caslon’s A Specimen of Printing Types (1764). Cloth binding by Gray Parrot. A nice reprint of two important early works. Fine. $150.00
BB-9.
BB-10. Evelyn, John. ACETERIA: A DISCOURSE OF SALLETS. Dallas: Still Point Press, 1985. No. 12 of 300 copies. Quarter leather and paste-paper boards. With an introduction by Kit Currie. Illustrated by Tottoroto. Printed by the Bird & Bull Press at Newtown, PA. Composed in Caslon types by Mackenzie-Harris Corp., printed on mouldmade Arches text paper, and bound by Gray Parrot. With the prospectus for the book laid in . Fine. $200.00
BB-11.
BB-12.
BB-13. Meunier, Charles. LA RELIEUSE: CHARLES MEUNIER’S PLAQUETTE, 1900. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, nd. Pewter plaque, 2" x 3", depicting the bookbinder at work, in a blue cloth-covered case. A fine reproduction of a piece the noted binder made for an exhibition of his bindings in 1900. Fine. $95.00
BB-14.
BB-15. Morris, Henry. BIRD AND BULL NO. 13. North Hills, Bird & Bull Press, 1972. No. 56 of 140 copies. Oblong 8vo; vellum spine and paste-paper boards. A collection of short articles: Damp Printing on Power Presses; Machinery in Printing; A letter from Joe Spiral (Blumenthal); Papermaking ad nauseum; Notes from Here and There in 1895; Further News from Bachaus. Written at a time when Mr. Morris was looking for interesting material, but still a useful and valuable book for those for those interested in book production. Fine. $200.00 on hold
BB-16. Morris, Henry. BIRD & BULL PEPPER POT. North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1977. 4to, No. 210.250. An interesting collection of articles on papermaking, publishing and printing history - lightly seasoned with a dash of obscenity, according to the note on the title page. Leather spine, paste-paper boards. Illustrated with several plates (some in color) and examples of handmade paper. Near fine. $175.00
BB-17. Morris, Henry. TRADE TOKENS OF BRITISH AND AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS & BOOKMAKERS. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1989. No. 62/300, bound by Barbara Blumenthal in Northampton, Ma. Quarter leather, accompanied by a paper-covered portfolio with specimens of eleven tokens struck especially for this book, both in a slip case. British tokens, including those before the 18th century, with a check-list, and a chapter on American tokens. With a facsimile of a letter from W. Longman to Arthur w. Waters on the subject. Fine. $185.00
BB-18. Morris, Henry. BROADSIDE VIGNETTES. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1997. One of 145 copies. A unique combination of the poster/broadside and the book; a set of twenty‑one broadside folders, each hand printed by letterpress, 19x25 inches in size. Most are illustrated, and the entire set is housed in a lined and cloth‑covered clamshell case. Mr. Morris calls it his most lengthy and demanding project, and it is magnificent. Fine. $475.00
BB-19.
BB-20. Morris, Henry. NICOLAS LOUIS ROBERT AND HIS ENDLESS WIRE PAPERMAKING MACHINE. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 2000. No. 83 of 150 copies. 4to, with a portfolio of five plates that are facsimiles of the inventor's original drawings; both housed in a cloth clamshell box. Concerning the inventor of the first papermaking machine, invented in France in 1798. Includes a chapter on the papermaking historian Leonard B. Schlosser. The prospectus is laid in. Fine; as new. $400.00
BB-21.
BB-22. Morris, Henry. VIGNETTES, VOLUME II. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1999. No. 102 of 150 copies. 4to, brown cloth in a clamshell box. An eclectic assemblage of anecdotes about papermaking, the private press, printing and its history , book collecting, Numismata Typographica, and much more. One of Morris' efforts to combine the book and broadside. Many tipped-in illustrations, title pages, etc. With the prospectus laid in. Fine; as new. $475.00
BB-23. Morris, Henry. ROLLER PRINTED PASTE PAPERS FOR BOOKBINDING. North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1975. No. 159 of 215 copies. Paste-paper covered boards. All papers, including the tipped-in examples in the book, were made at the press. Techniques and examples, with photographic illustrations as well as paper samples. Fine. $200.00
BB-24.
BB-25. Schanilec. MY COLORFUL CAREER. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1996. No. 61/160. Writings and art from this noted multicolor wood engraver. Includes a bibliography of books containing his work. Leather spine, red silk-covered boards, in a silk covered slip case. Fine. $275.00
BB-26. Schlosser, Leonard B., and Henry Morris. A PAIR ON PAPER: TWO ESSAYS ON PAPER HISTORY AND RELATED MATTERS. North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1976. No. 46 of 220 copies. Leather spine and paper-covered boards, bound by Edward G. Parrot II at Hancock, Maine. Morris’ More Adventures in Papermaking, etc. and Some Early Milanese Paper Wrappers by Schlosser. Fine. $150.00
BB-27. Schmoller, Hans. MR GLADSTONE’S WASHI: A SURVEY OF REPORTS ON THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER IN JAPAN. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1984. 4to, leather spine, decorative paper-covered boards. No. 173 of 500 copies. A history of Japanese paper, with a facsimile of the Parkes Report of 1871, including a portfolio of twenty full-size Japanese watercolors depicting papermaking, originally part of the Parkes Report but never before reproduced. A handsome reprint, with the book and portfolio in a slip case. Fine. $400.00
BB-28.
BB-29. Stoneback, H.R. CARTOGRAPHERS OF THE DEUS LOCI: THE MILL HOUSE. North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1982. No. 21/240 copies; vellum spine, paste-paper boards. Printed on Dard Hunter’s Lime Rock paper, bound by Pan and Don Rash. A poem to the place where Dard Hunter made his first paper in America. Fine. $300.00
BB-30. Sumner, James. THE MYSTERIOUS MARBLER. North Hills, Bird & Bull Press, 1976. One of 250 copies. Leather spine, marbled boards. With an historical introduction, notes, and eleven original marbled samples by Richard J. Wolfe. Reprinting an essay on marbling originally published in 1854. An interesting book from the press. Fine. $200.00
BB-31. Voorn, Henk, & Henry Morris. THE BIRD & BULL COMMONPLACE BOOK. North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1971. No. 106 of 255copies. 4to, 65 pp., cloth spine, marbled boards, slip case. A book which began as a collection of poems on papermaking, but grew into a larger and better book. Includes a chapter on collecting books on papermaking. Near fine in slip case. $225.00
BB-32. Voorn, Henk. OLD REAM WRAPPERS. North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1969. No. 37 of 375 copies. Half leather and marbled boards, bound by Kurt Gaebel & Sons, Holland, Pa. An essay on early ream wrappers of antiquarian interest. Illustrated. Fine. $225.00 SOLD
BB-33. Wolfe, Richard J., and Paul McKenna. LOUIS HERMAN KINDER AND FINE BOOKBINDING IN AMERICA. A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF THE ROYCROFT SHOP. Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1985. No. 55 of 325 copies, bound by E.G. Parrot with a leather spine and decorative paper-covered boards. Illustrations include photographs of the Roycroft bookbinding shop. Also includes information on his bookbinding tools. Fine. $250.00
