Specimens of Penmanship from Gundry's Business College Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A
GUNDRY, John. Specimens of Penmanship from Gundry's Business College Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A. Comprises 22 full page calligraphic designs in black, white and metallic inks on bright blue [13], black [7] and white [2] grounds, one of which incorporates an albumen portrait of Gundry; 41 smaller designs arranged on three sheets; mounted engraved diploma for the College, interleaves with multiple copies of a large, illustrated broadside advertising the College; a 4-page leaflet, repeated. Broadsheet folio, 635 x 530 mm., bound in original half red roan gilt over pictorial boards lettered in gilt on both covers, the inside covers repeated the design but on pink glazed paper. Cincinnati: Gundry's Business College, 1873.
A spectacular example of the genius of American bookmaking in the late nineteenth century. This unique album was primarily intended to show off American calligraphy at the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition. Besides being an advertisement for Gundry's Business College each design also advertising his inks, described as: "Gundry's Carbon Ink," "Gundry's White Fluid Ink," "Gundry's Silver Fluid Ink," and "Gundry's Gold Fluid Ink". The cover design features a central wood-engraved view of the College at the corner of Fifth and Walnut in Cincinnati, by James Thomson.
Exhibited: Vienna International Exhibition. See Report of the Commissioners of the United States to the International Exhibition Held at Vienna (Washington, 1876), item no. 636 within Group 26 (Education, Teaching and Instruction) of the United States section. Some browning, scattered creasing and a few tears, scattered spots, overall in a fine state of preservation.
PROVENANCE: From the library of William S. Reese.
Item nr. 170502
Price:
$35,000.00