The Bishop Collection

The Bishop Collection of Thomas Bird Mosher & The Mosher Press
The Bishop Collection of Thomas Bird Mosher & The Mosher Press

Detailed information on the Bishop Collection will be published here. In general, the collection consists of 181 linear feet of around 4,500 items, and includes:

  • The Bishop Collection
    The Bishop Collection

    Over two thousand books published by Mosher and later Mosher Press publications, including many rarities, boxed sets, Japan vellum printings, 43 books printed on real vellum, and 50 hand-illuminated Mosher publications.

  • Over 500 volumes from Mosher’s library, — most with his bookplate — including sets, five volumes from The Century Guild Hobby Horse, and 40 books with Mosher’s annotations used for inclusion in The Bibelot or other Mosher Press publications.
  • Hundreds of pages of manuscripts and correspondence to/from/about Mosher, including:
  • Scrapbooks kept by The Mosher Press, including several “Mark Twain” paste-up albums with the earliest reviews or Mosher’s books and his periodical, The Bibelot.
  • The Bishop Collection
    The Bishop Collection

    Many examples of English books Mosher disassembled for the printer (with Mosher’s editorial notes).

  • Over 435 full and three quarter leather bindings exhibiting some of the finest work of English and American binders.
  • Correspondence with Mosher collectors worldwide, including several years of correspondence with Norman Strouse, America’s foremost Mosher collector whose collections are now at the University of San Francisco and at The Bancroft Library.
  • More detailed information on this collection and its assemblage can be seen at Bishop’s short biography and publications pages which provide links to the texts of some of his articles on collecting.