MTSU Book and Printing Arts and History

The images below are from a keepsake book printed for members of the Baltimore Bibliophiles in May of 1960. The coverboards are decorated with handmade marbled papers, made in England by Douglas Cockerell, the best known twentieth-century marbler. The pattern looks like the skin of a snake or a bird’s wing feathers.

Marbling is a method of design done by placing paint drops into a water bath. The paint is then swirled to make distinct patterns. A documentary, “The Art of the Marbler” shows Cockerell producing his marbled papers. The film was produced by the Bedfordshire Record Office in 1970.

The interior pages of this volume are printed on Strathmore Paper Company’s white Chroma. Two hundred copies of the keepsake were printed by Evergreen House, Baltimore, for members of the Bibliophiles. The typeface is Linotype Caledonia designed by W.A. Diggins, an American designer. 

The book chronicles the founding and first five years of the Baltimore Bibliophiles book club. It belonged to a member, Roger Powell, who received the book on May 13, 1964. The book includes a list of the members, the group’s bylaws, and a description of each meeting.