[Private Press] Fass, John S. (printer)

[Hammer Creek Press] SOME ORIENTAL VERSIONS OF THE TURTLE

New York: Hammer Creek Press, 1952. Original Wrappers. Near Fine binding. Item #7348

6 5/8" x 4 1/8". 17 pp. Limited edition, limitation unknown. As issued, green paper, Japanese stab binding with printed pastedown on the front cover; French fold; short note (2-pages) and twenty illustrations including the pressmark on the title page and colophon printed in black, or green, or sienna. A beautiful copy without wear.

Among the most unsung of mid-century printers, John Strobe Fass produced some exquisite books both from his Harbor Press and his final, "off-hours enterprise," the Hammer Creek Press. Fass was deeply enmeshed in the world of print and book design, from job- and private printing to undertaking the print work for Madison Avenue advertising agencies. He was close friends with John DePol, Burton Carnes, and Valenti Angelo and he traveled in the same circles as giants like Bruce Rogers and William Edwin Rudge. Hammer Creek Press began when in 1950 Fass purchased from Valenti Angelo a small iron press previously owned by Bruce Rogers who had sold it to Angelo the year before. It was on this press of significant provenance that the bulk of the Hammer Creek Press editions were printed,including this present work. A creator of beautifully printed works, Fass's Hammer Creek Press deserves a wider appreciation. But with such extremely limited editions almost exclusively for private distribution, the output of the press is sufficiently scarce and ephemeral that it is difficult to find copies to appreciate. Cohen 17.

Price: $750.00