Goudy Gaudeamus: In Celebration of the Dinner Given Frederic W. Goudy on his 74th Birthday, March Eighth, 1939
Distaff Side, 1939. Hard Cover. Very Good binding. Item #8735
Small quarto (6-1/4" x 4-3/4"). Limited edition, number 28 of 195. As issued, in linen-backed boards. Illustrated throughout including two fold-outs. Rubbing to the board edges and front joint; penciled name on the front pastedown; contents clean. A fairly nice copy of a book rarely found thus.
This is the second book issued by the Distaff Side, a loose collective of women who came together on occasion to create what Kathleen Walkup describes as a "potluck book"—each section is printed independently by the contributors, size and topic being the only commonalities. These sections with varying paper type and color, typefaces, and design are brought together and bound. The first so issued by the collective is the now iconic and elusive Bookmaking on the Distaff Side (1937) in which dozens of the most accomplished women in print came together to recognize the ways in which women have historically been overlooked in this field.
This, the second Distaff Side potluck book had both a different tenor and a different make-up. While explicitly honoring Goudy on his 74th birthday, in fact, it was a January 1939 fire that destroyed Goudy's Village Press (the second such fire in the Press's history) that prompted the event and this bibliographic outpouring of love and respect. Unlike Bookmaking on the Distaff Side, contributions to this book came from, women, men, and organizations in order to honor one of the most distinguish printers, artists, and type designers. The book, with more than two dozen contributors, was pulled together in less than two months with one of the 195 copies presented to Goudy at this dinner. (Walkup p. 173-5). A remarkable book showcasing some of the most important and influential printers of the first half of the twentieth century. Walkup, Kathleen. "Potluck Books and the Women of the Distaff Side." Making Impressions: Women in Printing and Publishing (2020).
Price: $400.00