signed
1940 · Herrin, Illinois
by (TROVILLION PRIVATE PRESS). POWYS, LLEWELYN
Herrin, Illinois: Trovillion Private Press, 1940. No. 294 OF 493 COPIES SIGNED by the author and artist, this the review copy sent to Publishers' Weekly. 226 x 130 mm. (9 x 5 1/8"). 3 p.l., XXIV, [2], 87, [3] pp.
Publisher's light blue buckram, upper cover with gilt title on a dark blue banner, gilt printer's device at foot, flat spine with gilt lettering, endpapers with black & white photograph of a rural scene, deckle edges. In the (slightly worn) original blue textured paper slipcase. With black & white photo frontispiece of the author, and 13 woodcut vignette headpieces printed in blue, by Mathia Noheimer. Prospectus laid in at front, along with a typed letter, signed, on Trovillion Press letterhead, from Hal Trovillion to Publishers' Weekly, submitting this copy for review, with Trovillion's handwritten renewal of his subscription to the magazine at foot, and with Publishers' Weekly's typed form requesting a review copy of the book. Spine and joints a bit sunned, fore margin of one leaf with tiny hole (from paper flaw). but a fine copy, clean and fresh, in an unworn binding.
This American private press imprint, the final work by British author Llewelyn Powys (1884-1939), is offered here with a piece of ephemera that provides a glimpse into the publishing industry in 1940. Run by husband-and-wife newspaper owners Violet and Hal Trovillion, the Trovillion Press began in 1908, with the pair printing booklets as Christmas gifts for friends. They soon began publishing a variety of books, mostly shorter works, printed in small quantities using high quality materials. The present volume is a selection of 13 essays by Powys containing reminiscences of his childhood in rural Somerset. It appeared shortly after the author's death; Hal Trovillion recounts the dramatic timeline of production in the preface: "the pages bearing the author's signature had crossed the war-bound sea in a perilous trip [from the United States to the United Kingdom], were hurriedly signed with his own pen and voyaged safely back to us escaping everlasting imprisonment in Davie Jones' locker and arriving only a few days before he passed on." While presumably the sadness expressed in the preface over Powys' passing was genuine, Trovillion clearly also saw it as a business opportunity. Among the laid-in materials at the front here is the letter he wrote to Publishers' Weekly stating that "this will be a valuable book for collectors in view of the fact that there are so many Powys collectors in the country and furthermore that it is the very last book that he had anything to do with.". (Inventory #: ST20234-31)
Publisher's light blue buckram, upper cover with gilt title on a dark blue banner, gilt printer's device at foot, flat spine with gilt lettering, endpapers with black & white photograph of a rural scene, deckle edges. In the (slightly worn) original blue textured paper slipcase. With black & white photo frontispiece of the author, and 13 woodcut vignette headpieces printed in blue, by Mathia Noheimer. Prospectus laid in at front, along with a typed letter, signed, on Trovillion Press letterhead, from Hal Trovillion to Publishers' Weekly, submitting this copy for review, with Trovillion's handwritten renewal of his subscription to the magazine at foot, and with Publishers' Weekly's typed form requesting a review copy of the book. Spine and joints a bit sunned, fore margin of one leaf with tiny hole (from paper flaw). but a fine copy, clean and fresh, in an unworn binding.
This American private press imprint, the final work by British author Llewelyn Powys (1884-1939), is offered here with a piece of ephemera that provides a glimpse into the publishing industry in 1940. Run by husband-and-wife newspaper owners Violet and Hal Trovillion, the Trovillion Press began in 1908, with the pair printing booklets as Christmas gifts for friends. They soon began publishing a variety of books, mostly shorter works, printed in small quantities using high quality materials. The present volume is a selection of 13 essays by Powys containing reminiscences of his childhood in rural Somerset. It appeared shortly after the author's death; Hal Trovillion recounts the dramatic timeline of production in the preface: "the pages bearing the author's signature had crossed the war-bound sea in a perilous trip [from the United States to the United Kingdom], were hurriedly signed with his own pen and voyaged safely back to us escaping everlasting imprisonment in Davie Jones' locker and arriving only a few days before he passed on." While presumably the sadness expressed in the preface over Powys' passing was genuine, Trovillion clearly also saw it as a business opportunity. Among the laid-in materials at the front here is the letter he wrote to Publishers' Weekly stating that "this will be a valuable book for collectors in view of the fact that there are so many Powys collectors in the country and furthermore that it is the very last book that he had anything to do with.". (Inventory #: ST20234-31)