The Journal of Koheleth
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Book, pictures, and note courtesy of Dick Blacher.
The Journal of Koheleth,
Being a Reprint of The Book of Ecclesiastes with an Essay
by
Elbert Hubbard, 1896
Kinder binding, #607 of 700
This the 2nd
book of the Roycroft Press. This book measures 9 1/8" x 6 1/8" and has 76
pages. It was printed in an edition of 700 copies on Ruisdael paper and bound in
paper over boards with a Buckram spine. 12 copies were printed on Japan Vellum.
Title page was designed by Bertha Hubbard and the edition signed and numbered by
Elbert Hubbard. There are numerous variant bindings including some with cloth
ties.
The first mention of this book that I have
found is in the October 1895 Philistine which states that 750 copies will
be printed on Dickinson hand made paper and bound in flexible vellum. In the
April 1896 Philistine, we again see an ad for The Journal of Koheleth,
this add states that 700 copies of the book bound in antique boards and
printed on Holland made paper will be sold at $2.00 and an edition of 12 bound
and printed on Japan vellum will be sold for $5.00. The May and June 1896
editions are the first to mention the Buckram spine and also note that the
edition of 12 was sold out. This book is listed in the 1899 catalog and sold for
$2.00
Notes:
This is a custom re-bind by
Kinder of The Journel of Koheleth. It's a great example of Kinder's mastery of
stippling (my word, for lack of a more technical term, in the use of extremely
fine dots and dashes to create lace-like designs). Keep in mind that every
single dot represents a single stroke - requiring an incredibly sure hand.
Other Roycroft binders such as Schwartz and Avery, probably trained by Kinder
in the use of this technique, employed it often, but never achieved the master's
perfection (in my opinion). DB