Grabhorn Press Leaves of Grass: Rare Book of the Week
The Grabhorn Press edition of Leaves of Grass
A notable edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass comes up for auction next week at PBA Galleries' Fine Press & Fine Bindings auction on April 2.
Published by Random House in 1930, with numerous woodcut illustrations by Valenti Angelo, it is no. 251 of 400 copies printed by brothers Edwin and Robert Grabhorn who founded the Grabhorn Press in 1919. It took more than a year to print and apparently was such a taxing job that the printers lightheartedly suggested that the colophon should be "400 copies printed and the press destroyed".
The Grabhorn Press was established in San Francisco in 1920 and became a leading producer of fine letterpress books and bindings in the US until it ceased operations in 1965 and was absorbed into the Grabhorn-Hoyem Press the following year and later the Arion Press. Several Grabhorn Press books also featured illustrations by Mary Grabhorn, Edwin's daughter, and Jane Grabhorn, Robert's wife, who worked as a printer and run affiliated imprints Jumbo Press and Colt Press, while Edwin’s wife Marjorie sewed bindings, wrote introductions, and generally helped to run the business.
Leaves of Grass has an estimate of $3,000-$5,000.
