EVERSON, WILLIAM. (Brother Antoninus), printer. Novum Psalterium Pii XII. An Unfinished Folio Edition of Brother Antoninus O.P. Los Angeles 1955 Folio, original blue morocco, upper cover with gilt crucifix and gilt-lettered title, spine in six compartments with five raised bands, one compartment gilt-lettered "Novum Psalterium Pii XII," turn-ins gilt, top edge trimmed, others uncut, by the Lakeside Press with binder's stamp on upper turn-in, spine slightly discolored, remains of ink library number and library blindstamp on title, library withdrawal sleeve inside upper cover, faint offsetting from turn-ins, blue cloth slipcase. LIMITED EDITION, no. 3 of about 48 copies, Psalter text printed in Goudy Newstyle type on handmade Barcham Green paper, headlines printed in red throughout, 2-page foreword by Robert O. Schad and 17-page account of the book's printing by Everson (those sections printed at the Plantin Press, Los Angeles), 76-page text of Psalms I-LIII (all published), the printed limitation statement with calligraphic inscription to His Eminence, James Francis Cardinal McIntyre, Archbishop of Los Angeles. See Msgr. Francis J. Weber, The Unfinished Psalter (San Fernando, Cal.: Junipero Serra Press, n.d.), with detailed census locating 19 numbered presentation copies, including the present, and 26 unnumbered copies.It was Brother Antoninus' intention, in honor of the five hundredth ÿanniversary of the publication of the first printed Psalter, to print a folio edition of the new translation published by the Vatican in 1945. He began work on the project in 1951, anticipating six years of work to complete 48 copies of the 300-page work, which he hoped to issue in 1957. By 1954, only 76 pages had been completed on a hand-press set up in the College of St. Albert the Great in Oakland, California, when Antoninus decided the project must be abandoned to allow him to devote himself to the priesthood. The press was closed. As Schad relates: "From the first, Countess Doheny had been one of the chief supporters of Brother Antoninus and his Psalter. In this book, coming from her beloved California, she saw an extraordinary manifestation of spirituality in printing. Her profound religious faith, her many years of experience as a collector in forming her own notable library, and her devotion to fine printing, joined to convince her that the Psalter, even though incomplete, was worthy of preservation....She asked if she might have the privilege of sponsoring the publication and distributing the 48 copies among important institutions. Brother Antoninus was prevailed upon to write an introductory note, and this Countess Doheny had printed and bound with the Psalter leaves in a manner befitting a remarkable work of beauty, devotion, and craftsmanship."Provenance: Estelle Doheny, bookplate (sale, Christie's New York, Part V, 21 February 1989, lot 1900).

EVERSON, WILLIAM. (Brother Antoninus), printer. Novum Psalterium Pii XII. An Unfinished Folio Edition of Brother Antoninus O.P. Los Angeles 1955 Folio, original blue morocco, upper cover with gilt crucifix and gilt-lettered title, spine in six compartments with five raised bands, one compartment gilt-lettered "Novum Psalterium Pii XII," turn-ins gilt, top edge trimmed, others uncut, by the Lakeside Press with binder's stamp on upper turn-in, spine slightly discolored, remains of ink library number and library blindstamp on title, library withdrawal sleeve inside upper cover, faint offsetting from turn-ins, blue cloth slipcase. LIMITED EDITION, no. 3 of about 48 copies, Psalter text printed in Goudy Newstyle type on handmade Barcham Green paper, headlines printed in red throughout, 2-page foreword by Robert O. Schad and 17-page account of the book's printing by Everson (those sections printed at the Plantin Press, Los Angeles), 76-page text of Psalms I-LIII (all published), the printed limitation statement with calligraphic inscription to His Eminence, James Francis Cardinal McIntyre, Archbishop of Los Angeles. See Msgr. Francis J. Weber, The Unfinished Psalter (San Fernando, Cal.: Junipero Serra Press, n.d.), with detailed census locating 19 numbered presentation copies, including the present, and 26 unnumbered copies. It was Brother Antoninus' intention, in honor of the five hundredth ÿanniversary of the publication of the first printed Psalter, to print a folio edition of the new translation published by the Vatican in 1945. He began work on the project in 1951, anticipating six years of work to complete 48 copies of the 300-page work, which he hoped to issue in 1957. By 1954, only 76 pages had been completed on a hand-press set up in the College of St. Albert the Great in Oakland, California, when Antoninus decided the project must be abandoned to allow him to devote himself to the priesthood. The press was closed. As Schad relates: "From the first, Countess Doheny had been one of the chief supporters of Brother Antoninus and his Psalter. In this book, coming from her beloved California, she saw an extraordinary manifestation of spirituality in printing. Her profound religious faith, her many years of experience as a collector in forming her own notable library, and her devotion to fine printing, joined to convince her that the Psalter, even though incomplete, was worthy of preservation....She asked if she might have the privilege of sponsoring the publication and distributing the 48 copies among important institutions. Brother Antoninus was prevailed upon to write an introductory note, and this Countess Doheny had printed and bound with the Psalter leaves in a manner befitting a remarkable work of beauty, devotion, and craftsmanship." Provenance: Estelle Doheny, bookplate (sale, Christie's New York, Part V, 21 February 1989, lot 1900).

Details

EVERSON, WILLIAM. (Brother Antoninus), printer. Novum Psalterium Pii XII. An Unfinished Folio Edition of Brother Antoninus O.P. Los Angeles 1955 Folio, original blue morocco, upper cover with gilt crucifix and gilt-lettered title, spine in six compartments with five raised bands, one compartment gilt-lettered "Novum Psalterium Pii XII," turn-ins gilt, top edge trimmed, others uncut, by the Lakeside Press with binder's stamp on upper turn-in, spine slightly discolored, remains of ink library number and library blindstamp on title, library withdrawal sleeve inside upper cover, faint offsetting from turn-ins, blue cloth slipcase. LIMITED EDITION, no. 3 of about 48 copies, Psalter text printed in Goudy Newstyle type on handmade Barcham Green paper, headlines printed in red throughout, 2-page foreword by Robert O. Schad and 17-page account of the book's printing by Everson (those sections printed at the Plantin Press, Los Angeles), 76-page text of Psalms I-LIII (all published), the printed limitation statement with calligraphic inscription to His Eminence, James Francis Cardinal McIntyre, Archbishop of Los Angeles. See Msgr. Francis J. Weber, The Unfinished Psalter (San Fernando, Cal.: Junipero Serra Press, n.d.), with detailed census locating 19 numbered presentation copies, including the present, and 26 unnumbered copies.

It was Brother Antoninus' intention, in honor of the five hundredth ÿanniversary of the publication of the first printed Psalter, to print a folio edition of the new translation published by the Vatican in 1945. He began work on the project in 1951, anticipating six years of work to complete 48 copies of the 300-page work, which he hoped to issue in 1957. By 1954, only 76 pages had been completed on a hand-press set up in the College of St. Albert the Great in Oakland, California, when Antoninus decided the project must be abandoned to allow him to devote himself to the priesthood. The press was closed. As Schad relates: "From the first, Countess Doheny had been one of the chief supporters of Brother Antoninus and his Psalter. In this book, coming from her beloved California, she saw an extraordinary manifestation of spirituality in printing. Her profound religious faith, her many years of experience as a collector in forming her own notable library, and her devotion to fine printing, joined to convince her that the Psalter, even though incomplete, was worthy of preservation....She asked if she might have the privilege of sponsoring the publication and distributing the 48 copies among important institutions. Brother Antoninus was prevailed upon to write an introductory note, and this Countess Doheny had printed and bound with the Psalter leaves in a manner befitting a remarkable work of beauty, devotion, and craftsmanship."

Provenance: Estelle Doheny, bookplate (sale, Christie's New York, Part V, 21 February 1989, lot 1900).