Sold for $17,500

 

2 volumes. Folio. Illustrated with over 235 relief engravings by Barry Moser.  (Front flyleaf creased in Vol. I.)  Vol. I partially bound, sewn onto original vellum strips with linen and spine backing paper present; Vol. II in full vellum over boards with title stamped in gilt on front board and spine (slight discoloration to vellum on front cover); each volume housed in original cloth folding case (both with spine labels for Vol. II). 

 

LIMITED EDITION, one of 400 copies on Zerkall Bible paper, out of a total edition of 430 copies, this copy out-of-series and signed by Moser at end of Vol II. The text for the Pennyroyal Caxton Bible follows the classic King James, or "Authorized" version, first published in 1611. The type is Galliard-Moser, designed by Matthew Carter and modified specifically for this project, and the type pages are composed and printed by Bradley Hutchinson of Digital Letterpress in Austin, Texas, after Moser’s designs and specifications. Mr. Hutchinson has rendered the computer-generated type into polymer printing plates and printed them letterpress, combining tradition with modern technology. The paper is Zerkall Bible, manufactured especially for this project and bearing the unique watermark of the Pennyroyal Caxton Press. The bindings are executed by the combined studios of Claudia Cohen and Sarah Creighton, of Easthampton, Massachusetts. Moser brought the experience of thirty years of engraving to bear on his illustrations for the King James Bible, the first edition in this century in which both the Old and the New Testaments are illustrated by a single artist. Working with a new medium known as resingrave, Moser has cut over 235 stunning illustrations which rank among his finest, and overseen the integration of these engravings into a seamless whole, what he has termed the "struggle to engage not only a sacred text but the greatest monument of our language; to grapple with typography and images befitting such sanctity and monumentality; and to wrestle with the devils and angels that reside therein." This book undoubtedly ranks among the greatest achievements of twentieth century fine bookmaking. With the original prospectus laid in. 

 

[With:] 3 original preliminary pencil drawings by Moser for illustrations in The Holy Bible. Each 403 x 284 mm, each titled and signed by Moser. The subjects comprise: “Sanballat” (Nehemiah 2:10), “The Child” (Galatians 4:1), and “The Annunciation” (Luke 1:28).

 

[And:] 

 

A trial binding dummy for the Pennyroyal Caxton Bible, folio, linen-backed boards, inscribed by Moser in pencil on the front free endpaper: “This binding dummy is from the workshops of Sarah Creighton & Claudia Cohen is a prototype for the binding of the Pennyroyal Press edition of the King James Bible. The cover papers were made by Tim Barrett at his paper mill at the Center for the Book at the University of Iowa. Barrett and I collected walnut husks around the mill building to dye the sheets. Unfortunately, the paper bruised and burnished, & the idea for a very humble biding was abandoned. / Barry Moser / 8.26.21.”