Ida Webster: Collection of Spiral Press Printed Books and Holiday Greetings, ca. 1926-1973

RLIN ID No.
NYGG01-A35

Creator
Webster, Ida, collector.

Title
Collection of Spiral Press imprints and holiday greetings, ca. 1926-1973.

Physical Description
1 box (.5 linear ft.)
14 books

Historical/Biographical Note
The Spiral Press was founded by Joseph Blumenthal (1897-1990) in 1926. From 1930 on the press printed special editions of the poems of Robert Frost but also engaged in a great deal of commercial and fine presswork. Beginning in 1927, Blumenthal’s holiday greetings featured poems by Frost were embellished with illustrations or printers’ ornaments. He also designed a typeface, Spiral, which he named after the press. After closing the press in 1971, Blumenthal wrote several books on printing and printers, including an important one on Bruce Rogers. He was awarded the American Institute of Graphic Arts’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 1952.

Scope and Contents
Holiday greetings printed by proprietor Joseph Blumenthal and his wife almost every year between 1927 and 1973, and fourteen books published or printed by the Spiral Press between 1926 and 1967.

General Note
Title devised by cataloger.

Finding Aid
Unpublished list available in repository.

Names
Blumenthal, Joseph, 1897-1990.
Frost, Robert, 1874-1963.
Webster, Ida.
Spiral Press.

Genre
Ephemera. New York (State). New York. 20th century.
Christmas cards. New York (State). New York. 20th century.
Greeting cards. New York (State). New York. 20th century.

Occupation (as reflected in collection)
Printers. New York (State). New York. 20th century.

Location
Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022-1098.


Collection Inventory

I. Holiday Greetings
Christmas/Holiday greetings from Ann and Joseph Blumenthal: 1927, [1929], 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1944-1967, 1969 (2 copies), 1971-1973.

II. Spiral Press Books (listed by date)
Max Weber. Primitives. 1926 [first Spiral Press imprint]
Breton, Nicholas. Phillida and Coridon. 1927
Poe, Edgar Allen. Poems. 1929
Thomas Wigglesworth. The Day of Doom. 1929
Milne, Alan Alexander. The Secret and Other Stories. 1929 [signed by Milne on fly-leaf]
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature. 1932
Dorson, Richard Mercer. Davy Crockett, American Legend… 1939
Faulkner, William. Nobel Prize speech. 1951
Graham. Faith and Hope of an American. 1952
Gropius, Walter. Architecture and Design. 1952
Shahn, Ben. Paragraphs on Art. 1952
VanWyck Brooks. Writers and the Future. 1953
Lincoln, Abraham. Fundamental Creed of Abraham Lincoln. 1956
Instituto General Electric, Montevideo, Uruguay. Antonio Frascati… 1967