Instruments of Writing from the Writing Book of Giovanbattista Palatino, Vincent Torre at Inkwell Press.
Instruments of Writing from the Writing Book of Giovanbattista Palatino - Rome, 1533. Printed Upon the Printing-Press of Vincent Torre, which is at the Sign of the Ink-Well, 1951. Hardcover with no Dust jacket. There is heavy wear and splitting at the bottom of the spin and a 1/4" diameter stain on the front cover near the spine. The spine is sun-faded. There is a blemish on the top corner of the front cover resulting from a previous bookseller's price sticker. Inside the book, the pages are numbered in pencil, one page per sheet of paper, possibly by Torre. The pages are only printed on one side. Numberring is to 24. On page #23 a number '7' is written in black ink in the middle of the page. Perhaps, this was number '7' of however few copies. Pages appear lightly tanned around the edges. Otherwise, there are no previous owner markings in the book (highlightinhg or otherwise) no creases or folds to the pages. Binding is tight with no looseness to the pages. Not ex-Library, Not Facsimile, Not Print-on-demand. BF04a
"VINCENT TORRE was seven years old when he made his first miniature hand-sewn books. In his teens, he made copies calligraphically or with individual pieces of type carved in wood and printed one letter at a time. While serving in the US Navy, 1951-1954, stationed on the USS Orion, he printed his first books under the imprint of The Inkwell Press. During his Navy career, he produced a total of 12 titles on Navy equipment, in small editions of six to 20 copies. After his discharge, he acquired a hundred-year-old hand press and a Vandercook press, on which he printed over 60 titles in 50 years of activity. His biggest project, which took 12 years to complete, was four companion volumes of his own fables and poems, printed from handset type and illustrated with 80 full-colored woodcuts printed from the blocks. Torre binds all Inkwell Press books by hand. Besides being represented in many private collections, Inkwell Press books are in the special collections of: The British Library; The New York Public Library; The Yale Library; Stony Brook University; The Kerlan Collection, Minneapolis; The University of Kentucky; Texas Christian University; Duke University; The University of Sydney, Australia; and others. The British Library and the University of Delaware Library have recently acquired a full set of his Fable books and other Inkwell Press productions. He has received many awards and favorable reviews in: The Five Owls; Bookman's Weekly; Fine Print; The Pentatette; Book Design and Production (Britain); Publishers Weekly; Attenzione Magazine; Printing History. Torre was staff designer at Alfred A. Knopf, Publishers, 1959-1964; and free-lance designer for most of the New York publishers in a career of over 45 years. "Charles Dickens His Journal of a Journey from London to Canterbury in the Year 1830, Adapted from His Works and Edited by Vincent Torre" was published by George Braziller in 2010. This book received an award from the World Dickens Fellowship." - www.vincenttorrebooks.net
"VINCENT TORRE was seven years old when he made his first miniature hand-sewn books. In his teens, he made copies calligraphically or with individual pieces of type carved in wood and printed one letter at a time. While serving in the US Navy, 1951-1954, stationed on the USS Orion, he printed his first books under the imprint of The Inkwell Press. During his Navy career, he produced a total of 12 titles on Navy equipment, in small editions of six to 20 copies. After his discharge, he acquired a hundred-year-old hand press and a Vandercook press, on which he printed over 60 titles in 50 years of activity. His biggest project, which took 12 years to complete, was four companion volumes of his own fables and poems, printed from handset type and illustrated with 80 full-colored woodcuts printed from the blocks. Torre binds all Inkwell Press books by hand. Besides being represented in many private collections, Inkwell Press books are in the special collections of: The British Library; The New York Public Library; The Yale Library; Stony Brook University; The Kerlan Collection, Minneapolis; The University of Kentucky; Texas Christian University; Duke University; The University of Sydney, Australia; and others. The British Library and the University of Delaware Library have recently acquired a full set of his Fable books and other Inkwell Press productions. He has received many awards and favorable reviews in: The Five Owls; Bookman's Weekly; Fine Print; The Pentatette; Book Design and Production (Britain); Publishers Weekly; Attenzione Magazine; Printing History. Torre was staff designer at Alfred A. Knopf, Publishers, 1959-1964; and free-lance designer for most of the New York publishers in a career of over 45 years. "Charles Dickens His Journal of a Journey from London to Canterbury in the Year 1830, Adapted from His Works and Edited by Vincent Torre" was published by George Braziller in 2010. This book received an award from the World Dickens Fellowship." - www.vincenttorrebooks.net
