William Targ's copy

GRAPHIC FORMS:
THE ARTS AS RELATED TO THE BOOK

Thomas Wilson [preface]

6.25 x 9.5 hardcover book with 128 text pages followed by 44 pages of illustrated examples chosen by the respective essayists. Published as an offshoot from a series of conferences sponsored by Harvard in 1948 and 1949.

Contents:

• Publisher's Preface by Thomas J. Wilson
• Function in Modern Design by Gyorgy Kepes
• University Press Book Design by P. J. Conkwright
• Trade Book Designs by W. A. Dwiggins
• Evaluation by Carl Purington Rollins
• Black in the Visual Arts by Paul Rand
• Static and Dynamic Concepts by Walter Dorwin Teague
• The Illustrator and the Book by Lynd Ward
• The Author and the Printed Book by Donald Klopper
• The Avant-Garde by Herschel Levit
• Experimentation by Enda Beilensen
• The Function of the Amateur Printer by Peter Beilensen
• As the Etcher Sees It by Samuel Chamberlain
• The New Forms . . . And Books by Merle Armitage
• Tomorrow's Readers by J. Donald Adams
• Epilogue by Philip Hofer

Includes work by Alvin Lustig, El Lissitzky, Le Corbusier, Pablo Picasso, Alexey Brodovitch, Gyorgy Kepes, P. J. Conkwright, W. A. Dwiggins, Carl Purington Rollins, Paul Rand, Walter Dorwin Teague, Lynd Ward, Donald Klopper, Herschel Levit, Edna Beilensen, Peter Beilensen, Samuel Chamberlain, Merle Armitage, J. Donald Adams, Philip Hofer.

William Targ (1907-1999) was a successful book editor, well respected in the field of commercial publishing, and best known for publishing Mario Puzo's The Godfather while editor in chief of G. P. Putnam's Sons. From 1942 to 1964 Targ worked as an editor for the World Publishing Company, eventually becoming editor-in-chief. He then moved to G.P. Putnam's Sons where, in 1968, he bought Puzo's novel for a $5000 advance. According to the New York Times, "'The Godfather' turned out to be the most profitable single novel ever published by Putnam's and the paperback rights were sold for more than $400,000."

Outside of the commercial realm, Targ was committed to the art of bookmanship and the ideals of the private press. After retiring from Putnam in 1978, he founded Targ Editions, a one-man operation he ran from his home in Greenwich Village. Targ sought to publish works by contemporary writers that had not been previously produced in book form. The twenty-five Targ Editions include works by Henry Roth, John Updike, Saul Bellow, Tennessee Williams, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Norman Mailer‹each book a unique volume. As Targ wrote for his Targ Editions checklist: "Each of these books is individually designed (no two formats are alike) and they are produced by letter press and are hand-bound. The various printing papers are of high quality, and enduring‹mainly of rag, and deckle-edged. The bindings are of pictorial or decorated boards, and or cloth over boards. Each book is signed by its author. The editions are limited to between 150 and 350 copies each."

In his own Targ Editions volume, Abacus Now, William Targ wrote: "Print can be as beautiful as music; it has the power to move, it is as volatile as stage magic. As a typophile and bookman, now on my own, I look more closely into the genius and works of the men and women who enriched our lives with beautiful books. I observe closely the contemporary typographic scene, the people engaged with the magical 26 letters by which we live . . . I don't think the private press printer will save the world; but I think that if we are seeking the pure of heart and a wholesome commitment, such a person may be found more readily beside a hand press than, say, in an advertising agency or in the House of Representatives -- or in City Hall."

A nice Association copy.

Spreads from this volume can be viewed here.

out of stock