THE PRINTER’S LAST LINE

Kendall, Wilber Lawrence

The Proofreader [Poor Richard Press Keepsake — One of 200 Copies]

Chicago: Poor Richard Press, 1980.
A TYPOGRAPHIC TRIBUTE TO THE PERSON WHO CATCHES WHAT EVERYONE ELSE MISSES.

THE PRINTER’S LAST LINE OF DEFENSE: A small private-press keepsake devoted to the proofreader and the exacting work behind the printed page. The text by Wilber Lawrence Kendall is presented as an exercise in typography as much as a literary piece, designed and hand-set by Ivend H. Krohn of Chicago’s Poor Richard Press.

Printed in only 200 copies, the booklet combines Kendall’s text with Krohn’s hand composition, Frederic Goudy’s Companion type, and hand-press printing—a fitting treatment for a work celebrating accuracy in the printer’s craft.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: TYPE ABOUT TYPE.
+++ Stapled in blue paper wrappers with title, author, and proofreader’s check mark printed on the front. Small-format letterpress booklet measuring approximately 4.25 by 3.375 inches. 12 pages. 
+++ Title page printed in black and blue, with the proofreader’s check mark repeated as a decorative device.
+++ The colophon states that the booklet was designed by Ivend H. Krohn, who hand-set the text in 12-point Garamond, with display lines in Goudy’s Companion O.S. Two hundred copies were printed on a hand press. The text was taken from Modern Type Display by Krohn’s friend, the late Julius L. Frazier.
+++ Title page dated MCMLXXX [1980].
+++ One of only 200 copies printed on a hand press by Ivend H. Krohn at the Poor Richard Press. The limitation is stated in the colophon; individual copies were not numbered.

CONDITION: FINE. No Flaws or Blemishes but minimal shelf handling; Still Gift Quality.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: THE CRAFT BEHIND THE PRINTED WORD—A PRINTER PRINTING ABOUT PRINTING.
The appeal of The Proofreader lies in the relationship between subject and production. A text concerned with one of printing’s essential crafts was itself hand-set in Garamond and Goudy types and printed by hand in a small edition.

Ivend H. Krohn’s Poor Richard Press belonged to the American amateur and private-press tradition in which printers produced limited keepsakes for fellow printers, collectors, and friends. Here Krohn also credits Julius L. Frazier’s Modern Type Display as the source of Kendall’s text, connecting the keepsake directly with the literature of typography and commercial printing.

THE TYPOGRAPHY IS THE POINT.
Garamond provides the text face while Frederic Goudy’s distinctive Companion type supplies the display lettering. The oversized overlapping O’s in PROOFREADER, together with the blue proofreader’s check mark, turn the booklet into a compact demonstration of the typographic craft it celebrates.

SUBJECTS: Proofreading, Ivend H. Krohn, Poor Richard Press, Wilber Lawrence Kendall, Frederic Goudy, Companion Typeface, Garamond, Julius L. Frazier, Letterpress Printing, Hand Press Printing, Typography, Chicago Printing, Private Press, Fine Printing, Keepsakes, Printing History, Book Arts.

Item #22460

Price: $35.00