The W. Bruce Fye Collection of Extra-Illustrated Books

von W Bruce Fye

444 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

Extra-illustration is the practice of inserting pertinent prints, autographs, or other material items into a book after its publication. It emerged in 1769, when parish priest and portrait-print collector James Granger published A Biographical History of England. The practice declined dramatically in the early twentieth century and had largely disappeared by the Depression.

Extra-illustration transforms a publisher's ordinary edition that anyone can buy into a unique, personalized specimen. In the process, the book is disbound, altered by the insertion of visual materials relevant to specific persons, places, or events mentioned in the text, and rebound.

The W. Bruce Fye Collection of Extra-Illustrated Books is the world's largest private collection of this underappreciated genre. Fewer than five institutions in the world are likely to own more extra-illustrated books. This annotated catalogue of the collection provides insights into several related subjects, such as the history of the book, the history of engraving, the history of visual culture, and the history of antiquarianism. It contains 658 listings encompassing 1,941 volumes. The total number of inserted objects (including prints, manuscripts, and original art items) is 78,981. There are almost 78,000 original prints, including several thousand Old Master engravings. One hundred fifty-five high-resolution, black-and-white and color illustrations complement the text.

The listings provide basic information about each book or set, including its publisher, binding, and provenance. Each entry also describes the number and type of prints and other items inserted into that book. Extra-illustration was an expensive pastime, and the few bibliophiles who practiced it were usually in a position to clothe their grangerized volumes in sumptuous leather bindings. More than 90 percent of the volumes in the Fye collection are bound in leather, and the finest British and American craft binders are well represented.

• ISBN: 9798317852795
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 01.11.2026
• Verlag: Bookbaby