Hand and Soul
Upper Mall, Hammersmith: The Kelmscott Press, 1895.
First American edition, first issue of Rosettis's manifesto and cornerstone work of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. William Morris sent 300 paper copies and 11 vellum copies to America on the S. S Untria, this is one of 300 paper copies sold by Way and WIlliams in Chicago. [iv], 56 pp printed in Golden type in black and red with woodcut title and illustrated initials. Bound in pubisher's stiff vellum with spine lettered in gilt. Very Good+ with bowing to upper and lower boards, small spots of worming to top corner and lower edge of front board, vellum slightly soiled with opaque pinkish bleeding to top edge of textlbock and red ink staining at rear board, possibly an apprentice's error; contents are fresh and free from dampstaining. Written in a single night in December 1849, Rossetti's prose-poem defined Pre-Raphaelite philosophy by merging aesthetic beauty with spiritual duty, advocating for art that served the maker's vital force rather than mere public approval. An influential manifesto that served as a precursor to the decadent aestheticism movement that heavily inspired Morris, Edmund Burne-Jones and later Maxfield Parrish.
The only book published in America and the sole example of a sextodecimo printed on vellum from the famed Arts & Crafts press. Peterson A36. Sparling 36.
Price: $3,500