Anodos [Miss Elizabeth Coleridge]. FANCY’S FOLLOWING, 1900. Copy No. 3 of 4 printed on American vellum. Bound in flexible vellum with ties. Vellum proof of spine and cover decorations bound at the rear. The Gertrude Cowdin copy.
Binyon, Laurence, et. al. PRIMAVERA: POEMS BY FOUR AUTHORS, 1900. Copy No. 2 of 4 printed on Classic vellum, signed by the publisher. Thick gauge vellum pages, bound in full green flexible vellum prepared by the same firm that supplied William Morris; green silk ties. Vellum proof of the cover and spine design bound in the rear.
Cicero. DE AMICITIA (On Friendship), 1913. Unique copy No. 1 of 1 printed for Mr. Mosher on Roman vellum and bound in “binder’s vellum” with green silk ties. This is the last book Mosher was to print on vellum.
Dowson, Ernest. CYNARA: A LITTLE BOOK OF VERSE, 1907. Copy No. 3 of 5 printed on Roman vellum and signed by Mosher. This copy bound by Bennett of New York in full green morocco with matching slipcase.
Hay, John. IN PRAISE OF OMAR–An Address Before the Omar Khayyám Club, 1898. The Henry William Poor / William Francis Gable copy, No. 3 of only 4 printed on American vellum and rubricated, bound in full russet levant morocco, with floriated border of gilt tooling on sides, heavily gilt paneled spine with flower in each panel, gilt top, pages uncut, by the Club Bindery. Original printed cover, also on vellum, with Herbert P. Horne design and printed spine bound in. The book is enclosed in a marbled board slipcase with morocco mouth.
Henley, William Ernest. IN HOSPITAL: RHYMES AND RHYTHMS, 1903. Copy No. 3 of 10 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Bound in three quarter green morocco over green cloth by Scroll Club of New York.
Lathrop, George Parsons. THE CASKET OF OPALS, 1900. Copy No. 4 of 15 privately printed on vellum by Mosher and Gertrude Cowdin. Bound in flexible vellum with brown silk ties and title in gilt on spine (in board case). This is a presentation copy with an undated letter on her 13 Gramercy Park stationary: “My dear Mr. Lacy [Frederic Lacy at Putnam’s in NYC]. Will you accept this little book which Mr. Mosher has done for me & which I find so very charming. It has been a favorite poem of mine for a long time. I never felt that I sufficiently thanked you for all the trouble you took with the catalogue of my books which has been of great value to me. Trusting you will be pleased with the ‘Casket of Opals’ Very sincerely Gertrude Cowdin.
Mosher, Thomas Bird, ed. A LITTLE GARLAND OF CELTIC VERSE, 1905. Copy No. 2 of 10 copies printed on Roman vellum and signed by Mosher. This copy handsomely bound by the Club Bindery.
Mosher, Thomas Bird, ed. A LITTLE GARLAND OF CELTIC VERSE, 1905. Copy No. 6 of 10 copies printed on Roman vellum and signed by Mosher. Bound in quarter green morocco over floral boards by “Mr. Bogardus, binder to the Huntington Library.” From the library of M. S. Slocum of Pasadena, CA with his typed note.
Omar. RUBÁIYÁT OF OMAR KHAYYÁM. Portland [Maine]. [May] 1899. Copy No. 6 of only 10 copies printed on vellum. The limitation page reads: “This Book, of which 10 copies and no more are done on pure vellum, was privately printed by THOMAS BIRD MOSHER and EMILIÉ B. GRIGSBY at Portland, Maine, in the month of May, M•D•CCC•XCIX, and the type distributed.”The colophon reads: “Here ends the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám of Naishápúr rendered into English Verse by Edward FitzGerald, being the text of his Fourth Edition (1879), including the minor variants of the Fifth and final edition (1889). Done into type, and ten [numbered] copies and no more printed on pure vellum by T.B.M. & E.B.G. at Portland, Maine, during the month of May, A.D. 1899.” This copy was presented by Emilie Grigsby to John Law (pen name for Margaret Harkness) in London on May 23, 1901.
Omar. RUBÁIYÁT OF OMAR KHAYYÁM, 1902. Copy No. 10 of 10 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Bound in full flexible vellum with green silk ties. Accompanied by the publisher’s copy filled with proofs of several title pages printed on Japan and Roman vellum.
Pater, Walter. MARIUS THE EPICUREAN, 1900. Copy No. 3 of 4 on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Two volumes bound as one in a full mauve morocco binding by Toof & Co. under the direction of Otto Zahn. Housed in a black morocco clamshell case environment by S. A. Neff, Jr. Pictured by Zahn in his book On Art Binding (1904, illustration No. 8). Featured in Thomas Bird Mosher–Pirate Prince of Publishers (1998): R71.
Payne, John, trans. THE POEMS OF MASTER FRANCOIS VILLON OF PARIS. 1900. Copy No. 2 of 4 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Bound in full flexible vellum with green silk ties. Contains the loosely inserted “Omitted Lines” also printed on Roman vellum. This copy is from the collection of The Garden Ltd. with it’s bookplate; also contains the bookplate of Henry William Poor.
Payne, John, trans. THE POEMS OF MASTER FRANCOIS VILLON OF PARIS. 1900. Copy No. 3 of 4 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Bound in full brown morocco by Zaehnsdorf as shown in essay “Two Goals Met” by Philip R. Bishop. The inserted “Omitted Lines” in this copy are from the insert which appeared in The Poems of Master Francis Villon of Paris… London: Reeves & Turner, 1881, the source for the Bryant printing as listed in the previous entry as discussed in Bishop 302.
Rodd, Rennell (Oscar Wilde) ROSE LEAF AND APPLE LEAF, 1906. Copy No. 4 of 5 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Bound in quarter red morocco over floral boards by “Mr. Bogardus, binder to the Huntington Library.” Housed in a quarter purple morocco over cloth slipcase with folding cloth insert. From the library of M. S. Slocum of Pasadena, CA with his typed note.
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel. THE BLESSED DAMOZEL, 1901. Copy No. 3 of 10 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Vellum wrappers over boards with green silk ties. This copy from the libraries of Henry William Poor and John Quinn with their bookplates.
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel. THE BLESSED DAMOZEL, 1901. Copy No. 10 of 10 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Vellum wrappers over boards with green silk ties.
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel. POEMS, 1902. Copy No. 2 of 4. Bound by Léon Maillard of the Club Bindery. The Henry William Poor copy.
Rossetti, Daniel Gabriel, et.al. THE GERM, 1898. Copy No. 4 of 4 printed on Roman vellum with proofs of the original Ricketts designed cover and spine bound in. Bound in full orange mahogany morocco by exhibition finisher for Riviere, Leonard Mounteney. Featured in Thomas Bird Mosher–Pirate Prince of Publishers (1998): R49.
Schwob, Marcel. MIMES, 1901. Copy No. 4 of 6, signed by the publisher, and printed on Roman vellum with vellum binding color printed on front cover and spine. Includes printed dust wrapper and slipcase. Thomas Bird Mosher’s personal copy.
Swinburne, Algernon Charles. LAUS VENERIS—POEMS AND BALLADS, 1899. Copy No 1 of 4 printed on Roman vellum. Bound in original flexible vellum with ties. Illustrated. The Emilie B. Grigsby copy.
Swinburne, Algernon Charles. POEMS AND BALLADS—SECOND & THIRD SERIES. Portland [Maine], 1902. Copy No. 2 of 4 printed on vellum, signed by the publisher. Bound by the Club Bindery in full blue highly decorated morocco. From the libraries of Hery William Poor and John Quinn. This copy was exhibited in Thomas G. Boss’s Bound to be the Best exhibition at the Grolier Club.
Swinburne, Algernon Charles. TRISTRAM OF LYONESE, 1904. Copy No. 4 of 4 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Bound in full light brown morocco with slipcase.
Symons, Arthur. LYRICS, 1903. Copy No. 1 of 10 printed on Roman vellum and bound in full blue morocco by Hatchards of London with red onlays and gilt tooling to spine and covers; all page edges gilt.
Symons, Arthur. LYRICS, 1903. Copy No. 3 of 10 printed on Roman vellum and bound by Eleanore I. Swerigen.
Symons, Arthur. LYRICS, 1903. Copy No. 6 of 10 printed on Roman vellum and bound in full flexible vellum with title gilt stamped on spine. Ownership signature of British Shakespearean actor, Edward S. Willard.
Symons, Arthur. LYRICS, 1903. Copy No. 9 of 10 printed on Roman vellum and bound in full flexible vellum with title gilt stamped on spine. Ownership bookplate of Mary Adele Philo and stamp of Edward W. Mische.
Symonds, John Addington. FRAGILIA LABILIA, 1902. Copy No. 3 of 5 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Bound in decorated suede calf, doublures of brown morocco and elaborate gilt lotus designs. the Gertrude Cowdin copy.
Symonds, John Addington, trans. WINE WOMEN AND SONG–Medieval Latin Students’ Songs, 1899. Copy No. 3 of 4 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Bound in full flexible vellum with silk ties. From the libraries of Henry William Poor and Cortlandt Field Bishop with their bookplates.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. FATHER DAMIEN—AN OPEN LETTER. Portland, Maine, Copy No. 2 of 4 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. This copy was bound at the Club Bindery for Henry William Poor.
Tynan, Katherine [Hinkson]. A LITTLE BOOK OF XXIV CAROLS. Portland, Maine, 1907. Copy No. 1 of 5 copies, signed by the publisher. In loose folded sheets. Housed in a later cloth chamise and slipcase.
Villon. BALLADS DONE INTO ENGLISH FROM THE FRENCH OF FRANCOIS VILLON, 1904. Translations by D. G. Rossetti, A. C. Swinburne and John Payne. Copy No. 3 of 10. Bound by Stern & Bess in full burnt-orange crushed morocco with gilt rules on board edges, gilt across raised bands and around all compartments.
Watson, Rosamund Marriott. TARES: A BOOKS OF VERSES, 1906. Copy No. 6 of 7 copies, in sewn signatures ready for binding, in board case. This copy is also signed by the British Shakespearean actor, Edward S. Willard.
Whitman, Walt. MEMORIES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, 1912. Large quarto, copy No. 3 of 10 signed by Mosher, printed on heavy gauge Roman vellum and bound in classic vellum with silk ties. The William F. Gable copy with Mosher’s full page inscription to Gable on December 20, 1912: “My dear Gable, I feel much flattered that you should decide upon owning a copy of the greatest poem by the greatest poet upon the greatest American that ever lived. To have my name associated with theirs, as publisher only, is to my mind the most covetable thing I have done, or may ever hope to do in the years, few or many, remaining to me. Ever your friend, Thomas Bird Mosher.” Frontispiece photo-portrait of Lincoln on vellum. Mosher himself described it as a choice book “that princes may complete for but only Huntingtons can buy.”–Mosher to W. Irving Way, July 15, 1914.
Whitman, Walt. MEMORIES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, 1912. Large quarto, copy No. 7 of 10 signed by Mosher, printed on heavy gauge Roman vellum and bound in classic vellum with silk ties. Frontispiece photo-portrait of Lincoln on vellum. Mosher himself described it as a choice book “that princes may complete for but only Huntingtons can buy.”–Mosher to W. Irving Way, July 15, 1914.
Whitman, Walt. MEMORIES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND OTHER LYRICS OF THE WAR, 1906. Copy No. 7 of 7 printed on Roman vellum in the original unbound sheets all housed in the original board slipcase.
Whitman, Walt. THE BOOK OF HEAVENLY DEATH BY WALT WHITMAN compiled from Leaves of Grass by Horace Traubel, 1905. One of five copies printed on Roman vellum. Bound in full flexible vellum with silk ties.
Wickstead, Philip H., trans. OUR LADY’S TUMBLER–A Twelfth Century Legend done out of Old French into English, 1900. Copy No. 3 of 4 printed on American vellum, signed by Mosher, and bound in Classic vellum with grey ties; title gilt stamped on spine; vellum proof of the cover and spine design bound in the rear. This copy from the library of Henry William Poor with his bookplate.
Wilde, Oscar. INTENTIONS. Portland, Maine, 1904. Copy No. 4 of 6 printed on vellum, signed by the publisher. In loose folded sheets, and housed in a cabinet styled box as issued by the publisher.
Wilde, Oscar. THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL, 1904. Copy No. 6 of 10 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher, and bound in full flexible vellum. This copy is also signed by the British Shakespearean actor, Edward S. Willard, to whom Mosher earlier inscribed a copy of Edward Clodd’s Concerning a Pilgrimage to the Grave of Edward Fitzgerald (1902; No. 16 of 50): “To E. B. Willard Esq, with the regards and best wishes of Thomas B. Mosher, Nov 14, 1902” also in the Bishop Collection.
Yeats, William Butler. THE LAND OF HEART’S DESIRE, 1903. Copy No. 4 of 10 printed on Roman vellum, signed by the publisher. Original Folded sheets and slipcase box. Housed in a blue cloth slipcase with folding insert.
A census list of Mosher vellum holdings comparing the Bishop Collection to other major collections is provided here.
A full list of books printed on vellum in the United States, including Mosher’s productions, is available for researchers.