The Kingdom of Books

Boston: Little, Brown & Co, 1927. Cloth. Good/good +. Octavo, pp. [8], ix-xii, [2], 3-290, [2]. Second impression. Brown cloth-covered boards with gilt accents and light bumping. Tanned pages and edges. Price-clipped dust jacket with rubbing, sunning, chips and small tears; encased in a clear, protective cover. This is a large or heavy book and may require additional shipping charges to mail outside of the United States. William Dana Orcutt (1870-1953) was an American book and typeface designer, historian, and book author. Living and working in Boston, Orcutt helped found the Boston Society of Printers in 1905 and was elected the first president of the Society. In addition to printing and book design, Orcutt also published several novels, books on the history of printing and book making, and is credited for advancing printing as an art form. He served as vice-president and general manager of University Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts and later in a similar capacity with Plimpton Press in Norwood, Massachusetts. A self-described "bookman," Orcutt wrote and reviewed articles for The Atlantic Monthly, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Boston Globe. The Kingdom of Books includes nearly 100 illustrations and serves as a follow-up to his previous book, In Quest of the Perfect Book (1926, Little, Brown and Company). It includes the chapters "Modern Masters of Typography," "Books in the Cradle," and "The Clothing of Books".