type tuesday: The Grolier Club

St. Nicholas, 1902, Part one. (November 1901–April 1902). New York: The de Vinne Press. 91⁄2 × 71⁄2 in., 576 pp.

Founded in 1884, The Grolier Club is America's oldest society for bibliophiles. Located at 47 East 60th Street in New York City, the Club mounts exhibitions and publishes books to preserve and promote knowledge in the graphic arts.

Their next exhibition opens February 19 and documents Theodore Low De Vinne (1828-1914), one of the nine founders of The Grolier Club, on the centenary of his death. De Vinne produced the majority of the organizations publications prior to 1914, and selections of these will be on display along with design drafts, proofs and other memorabilia.

"De Vinne was a lifelong advocate for the highest standards of printing and book design, and he rose to prominence among his fellow printers because he sincerely loved the printing craft. Following in the footsteps of his Methodist parson father, De Vinne was an evangelist, preaching the gospels of loyalty first to the printing shop, and then to the printing industry as a whole; attention to mechanical details; clarity and readability in books and magazines; and respect for the history of printing. He had a consuming interest in typography, and although nurtured in fussy Victorian typographic styles, he came to value simplicity in typographic design and campaigned tirelessly on its behalf."

In 1896 De Vinne produced this line-by-line re-creation of the first printing manual in the English Language, Joseph Moxon’s 1683 Mechanick Exercises.

The exhibition runs until April 26.