Barber Giles Compiler (2 results)

4to, x,39pp., orig. printed wrappers.

Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. SIGNED - True First Edition, First Printing. Softcover.92 pages. Published jointly by the Ashmolean Museum and the Taylor Institution, Oxford (1987). Bound in the publisher's original stiff card pictorial wrappers. Lavishly illustrated with full-page monochrome figures and vivid colour plates capturing landmark French avant-garde printing. A nice near fine copy (light tone to edges), square, clean an all round tight, uncreased spine and fine internal pages. Crucially, this is a peerless association copy, hand-inscribed and signed by the author in Oxford directly following the launch: 'For David Chambers with my gratitude and compliments, Walter J Strachan, 27.1.87, Oxford.' An unread, museum-grade reference landmark celebrating a legendary cross-channel bibliographical archive. Elite Association Provenance Archive: Warmly hand-signed, inscribed, and dated by the author in Oxford directly following the exhibition's launch: "For David Chambers with my gratitude and compliments, Walter J Strachan, 27.1.87, Oxford". NOTES : This historic catalogue was published to celebrate a major event in 20th-century printing history: the official transfer and presentation of Walter J. Strachan's monumental collection of French avant-garde livres d'artistes to the Taylor Institution Library in Oxford. Strachan was the preeminent British champion of the genre, amassing pristine graphic sheets and texts designed by artists like Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Sonia Delaunay, and Joan Miró. The handwritten inscription to David Chambers dated 27 January 1987 is exceptionally moving. The grand exhibition opened at the Ashmolean Museum in January 1987. This inscription proves that Strachan took one of the very first crisp copies fresh off the press during the launch week and personally dedicated it to Chambers, his closest peer-collaborator and the director of the Private Libraries Association, thanking him for his lifelong friendship ("with my gratitude"). Signed by Author(s).…