More Mosher Press Books

I'm sure many, if not perhaps all, of the Devoted Readers have been lately following my many exploits from behind the bar to toothaches and root canals and saying to themselves "Great Heavens, Mysterioso! What's become of all those books by Mosher Press?" I know I would, were I you.

Fear not! A wide variety of books published by Thomas B. Mosher have been stacking up since last I updated my collection.

The House of Life, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, published by Thomas B. Mosher, 1898.
Rossetti's sonnet sequence, The House of Life was originally published in a form considerably different from that which Rossetti, uncharacteristically bowing to criticism, intended. This first edition by Mosher restores to The House of Life the deleted sonnet and returning other revisions to their original form. The House of Life is part of the Old World Series and features the ivory vellum coverboards, yapped edges and Van Gelder paper of the series as well as a charming floral title decoration. Surprisingly there is no foreward by Mosher. The restored work was obviously intended to speak for itself.

A List of Books in Belles Lettres, 1900, published by Thomas B. Mosher, 1900.
The annual and semi-annual catalogues of books by the Mosher Press are clearly invaluable to the collector not only for their nifty design, but for the wealth of information they contain. This catalogue sums up the books issued from 1891 to 1900 and herein we find the original sequence of Walter Pater's Imaginary Portrait series as well as the Old French Romances by William Morris. Invaluable. I was also impressed with the little sidebar notations which gave the catalogue a very charming look.

By Sundown Shores, by Fiona Macleod, published by Thomas B. Mosher, 1904.
Part of the Brocade Series and first of a trilogy of Fiona MacLeod's works titled Studies and Stories by Fiona MacLeod, By Sundown Shores is a second edition, 16mo in ivory vellum wraps with a floral decorated slipcase which has a small split at one edge. This volume is a collection of seven studies in Macleod's Celtic Revival religious musings and quite intriguing.

De Flagello Myrteo, by Richard Garnett, published by Thomas B. Mosher, 1906.
I have two editions of this book, one with the pages uncut and another with the pages cut. One edition has a lovely blue/gray marbled cover and the other has a gorgeous cream/rose/green marbled cover. Both have gold stamped titles and Mosher's distinctive colophon on the cover and spine. Each one is one of 925 copies done on hand-made Van Gelder paper. Each copy features a charming colophon on the title page and a short preface by Mosher. De Flagello Myrteo is a volume of aphorisms on the subject of Love:

Love is the divine Fire, and Beauty its glowing reflection in the skies of Time.

All in all, a very charming work and a very beautiful book.

Duke Carl of Rosenmold, by Walter Pater, published by Thomas B. Mosher, 1908.
Duke Carl is another of Walter Pater's six Imaginary Portraits. Part of Mosher's Brocade Series, this is a 16mo, in vellum wraps with a slightly worn floral decorated slipcase. This volume also has the original glassine wrapper and broken gold foil seal surrounding the book.

Rhymes and Rhythms & Arabian Nights' Entertainments, by W.E. Henley, published by Thomas B. Mosher, 1909.
I know very little about W.E. Henley except that Robert Louis Stevenson based the character of Long John Silver from Treasure Island on Henley. Henley's poetry falls somewhere between the fleshly verse of Rossetti and stolid verse of Tennyson. It's emminently readable verse which hints at being modern. Rhymes and Rhythms is part of the Lyric Garland Series, a small octavo in blue-grey boards, one of 950 copies printed on hand-made Van Gelder paper.

Under A Fool's Cap, by Daniel Henry Holmes, published by Thomas B. Mosher, 1911.
Rose coloured cover boards and title decoration are the exterior to this charming volume of re-worked nursery rhymes by Daniel Henry Holmes. A second edition, one of 950 copies printed on hand-made Van Gelder paper. A sweet book.

The Pierrot of the Minute, by Ernest Dowson, published by Thomas B. Mosher, 1913.
Ernest Dowson was not long for the world, but what little he left behind is very exquisite. His radiant play, The Peirrot of the Minute, is typical of the early 1900s, La Belle Epoque, with a touch of the English Decadence of the 1890s. The play conjures images of Beardsly's tragic Pierrots. Part of the Lyric Garland Series, this edition is one of 950 copies printed on hand-made Van Gelder paper with blue-grey cover boards.