Illustrated Talk on RR Donnelley Sept. 10th

The Grabhorn Institute Lecture Series is presenting an illustrated talk by Kim Coventry: “Printing for the Modern Age: Commerce, Craft, and Culture from the Presses of RR Donnelley.” The talk takes place September 10, 2007, at 6 p.m.

Illustrated with materials from the RR Donnelley archive, this talk will explore the company's role from its founding in Chicago in 1864 to the 1980s with an emphasis on the 1920s–1950s, at which point it was arguably the largest printer in the world. Among the many topics will be the history of the company's 1930 Rockwell Kent-illustrated edtion of Moby Dick, considered one of the definitive illustrated editions.

The event is preceded by a reception at 5 p.m. R.S.V.P.: 415-668-2548 or grabhorn@arionpress.com. Please respond if you are planning to attend the reception and talk. This lecture is supported by the Book Club of California and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Kim Coventry served as a curatorial consultant at RR Donnelley for 16 years, during which time she organized the company's archive and oversaw its transfer (in 2006) to the University of Chicago, where an exhibition of the Donnelley materials, including photographs, books, and graphic arts, was held at the Library in 2006.

In the 1930s, R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company launched a promotional campaign to position itself as a printer for a then-growing mass market book trade. To attract the attention of book publishers and to prove that high quality books could be printed in America by a large commercial printer, R.R. Donnelley embarked on a rare publishing venture, referred to as "The Four American Books" project.

The books were to be "American" in every way—authors, illustrators, typefaces and even paper were all of American origin. "The type will be set by machine, the paper made by machine, and the book printed in the regular book pressroom in the ordinary way on cylinder presses," stated the pre-publication prospectus.

One criteria for selection was that the literary works considered could not have been illustrated previously. Four well-known artists were each given a list of books from which to chose; each was then commissioned to undertake the design and original illustration of a single title. Rockwell Kent selected Moby Dick, W.A. Dwiggins selected Poe's Tales, Edward A. Wilson selected Two Years Before the Mast, and Rudolph Ruzicka selected Walden. Every small detail—the choice of paper, typeface, ink, binding materials, and in one case the design of the wrapping paper and mailing label—was included in the planning of this project.

The campaign had the desired result. Of the limited editions of 1,000 copies published, nearly all were sold. Moreover, the project exerted an influence over the way books were published for several decades. The Lakeside Press's three-volume Moby Dick was, for many decades, regarded as the definitive edition of Melville's great work. Most importantly, the project expanded R.R. Donnelley's client base among book publishers.
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