Walden; Or, Life in the Woods
Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1930. Limited Edition, one of 1,000 copies. Illustrated by Rudolph Ruzicka. Hardcover in publisher's slipcase. Tall octavo. xviii, 355 pages.
The Lakeside Press's beautiful 1930 edition of Thoreau's classic meditation on simple living. Certainly one of the most important and influential works of 19th century American literature.
This elegant edition of "Walden" was produced by the Lakeside Press for their "Four American Books" project in 1930. Lakeside was the fine press division of the R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company of Chicago, and this project was designed to demonstrate their ability to execute fine printing on par with European presses. The other three books in the series were Edgar Allan Poe's "Tales," "Two Years Before the Mast," by Richard Henry Dana, and Melville's "Moby Dick."
This "Walden" was designed and illustrated by Rudolph Ruzicka, who took up temporary residence near the site of Thoreau's cabin as he worked on this masterpiece of book design. Printed under the supervision of Donnelley's legendary head of design and typography, William A. Kittredge.
Limited to 1,000 copies, and widely considered to be the definitive illustrated edition of Walden.
Ref. BADARACCO; THE LAKESIDE PRESS ANNOUNCES ILLUSTRATED EDITIONS OF AMERICAN BOOKS.
Bound in decorative gray paper over boards with yellow cloth spine, gilt-stamped titles and ornaments to spine. In custom-fitted Mylar jacket. Mild toning to spine, 2 pages of Introduction have offsetting from an old clipping laid in (no longer present), and prior owner underlined 6 lines on page 9. Date neatly penned on front free endpaper next to a vintage 5 cent U.S. postage stamp of Thoreau. Felt-lined slipcase of yellow paper over boards with spine titled in black. Slipcase has mild toning to spine and top panels and a few minor rubs at corners. A bright and lovely copy overall.
Item #1972
Sold