The publishers have chosen to issue this well‐produced title in the Henry McBride Series in Modernism and Modernity and the bookjacket’s blurb focusses upon the interplay between the ideal and real nature of fine publishing set against a background of “American cultural ambitions” in the years between the two world wars. It is further claimed that the author, who is Director of the Printing and Publishing Arts Program at Pacific Lutheran University, argues that:
The clamor to own fine books reflected the anxieties and desires of those who mourned the rise of modern mass culture.
It would be a pity if such solemn declarations of a sociological nature deterred those interested in the book as object from approaching this elegant text. This is one of the most comprehensive histories of book design and production in the USA in the inter‐war years. In contrast to the situation in the UK, where private presses such as the Shakespeare Head Press and the Nonesuch Press have been extolled as taking the lead in best practice, Benton shows that, in the USA, commercial publishing houses such as Random House and Alfred Knopf, in taking an active role in producing fine editions, went a long way towards raising standards, both in their own general publications and those of their competitors. In contrast, Alfred Macy’s Limited Editions Club of New York, which was brought into existence to offer specifically made “fine books” to collectors, attracted criticism because of its artificiality, although some of its critics were not averse to taking part in the manufacture of its products.
The contributions of Bruce Rogers, Daniel Updike, Carl Rollins and Frederick Warde to typographic design are well covered and the author displays great competence in dealing with such aspects as production costs and publicity. Curiously, for a book dealing with “Modernity”, Benton’s text, together with the accompanying illustrations, leaves this reviewer with the feeling that, in contrast to the US rail locomotive, automobile or aircraft, there was little of “Modernism” about in the design of books, and a double‐page illustration from the Kelmscott Chaucer is an indication of the pervasive influence of William Morris. For those searching in the USA for the ideal book, the answer would lie in the years following the second world war, rather than in the period under review.
This enjoyable book is a considerable contribution to publishing history. There is a huge amount of information here, much of it not readily available elsewhere. The text is well organised, fully referenced, and there is an extensive and useful bibliography.
