Joel Munsell is back in the spotlight

Joel Munsell, the mid-19th century Albany, New York printer has recently reappeared thanks to the keen eyes of De Wolfe and Wood, of Alfred, Maine. In their recent offers were imprints associated with Franklin B. Hough who spent his last years identifying and selecting what would become known the Bradford Club Series of educational imprints (1859-1867), 8 reprints related to American history.

The Bradford Club enjoyed the support of many of the most famous men in their era.

The printing of this series was done by Joel Munsell. Over the years, these publications were alternatively shown as printed by Munsell & Rowland (1858), Privately Printed (1860), or simply listed as New York (1865). What unifies them is that they are all listed in Mr. Munsell’s history of his printed works called Munselliana. Simply stated, he printed them and they are some of his best work, all uniformly bound, a few of them associated Franklin B. Hough, his friend, a doctor and writer.

These are the imprints offered by De Wolfe & Wood.

Munsell Imprints. Pg. 92. Hough, F. B. Proclamation for Thanksgiving, Issued by the Continental Congress, President Washington, by the National and State Governments on the Peace of 1815, and by the Governors of New York since the Introduction of the Custom; with those of the Governors of the several States in 1858; with an Historical Introduction and Notes. 1858. Royal 8vo, pp. xvii, 183. 200 copies. In Transactions+ we have one auction record, dated 1905.

Munsell Imprints. Pg. 105. Croakers, by Joseph Rodman Drake and Fitz-Greene Halleck; first complete edition. 1860. 8vo, viii. 191. 150 copies. In Transactions+, we have 134 auction records.

Munsell Imprints. Pg. 136. Hough, Franklin B. Bibliographical List of Books and Pamphlets containing Eulogies, Orations, Poems, or other Papers, relating to the Death of General Washington, or to the Honors paid to his Memory. 1865. 8vo., pp.59. 25 copies. We have 13 references in Transactions+.

This copy is Franklin B. Hough’s, including his distribution list.

There is another version of this book (printed by another printer) that is available and I have offered to buy it.

Munsell material has long encountered an uncertain market. His strength, or his weakness, was he found early success by creating rarities, simply by stating a print run limitation. His problem was, if he stated the print run was small, it occasionally created great demand for those imprints. Unfortunately, he occasionally succumbed to high demand by creating additional copies. He probably assumed he wouldn’t be caught.

Note: The size of these copies are unusually large: 10.625 x 7.25 inches. They were printed on larger sheets and custom bound.

For collectors, these irregularities has made Munsell imprints an interesting pursuit. I highly recommend it.