Private press publications and ephemera, 1902-1996

Correspondence, photographs, announcements, invitations, stationery, booklets, clippings, posters, broadsides, artwork, and printed ephemera

Subseries IV.1 Files of Private Press Ephemera was formed largely from samples of printed work sent to the Liebermans by private press proprietors. The samples, along with a completed application and a prop card (proprietor’s card) fulfilled the requirements for registering a press name and listing in The Check-Log of Private Press Names, published annually by the Liebermans.

Among the private presses represented are established presses such as Michael Tarachow's Pentagram Press, John Anderson's Pickering Press, Arthur Rushmore's Golden Hind Press, and Robert Jones's Glad Hand Press. In contrast were the presses operated by Lieberman's children, Jethro Lieberman’s First-Hand Press and Lina Lieberman’s Etaoin Shrdlu Press and At the Sign of the Lurking Lycopodia.

The files consist of correspondence, samples of printing by the presses, photographs, and information about the particular press. Most of the correspondence refers to the registration of a press or the duplication of a press name, but other matters includes business related to chappel meetings or events. In some cases, a longer correspondence reflects a friendship developed between Lieberman and the proprietor of a press.

The second subseries, Christmas cards from private presses, consists of Christmas cards sent to the Liebermans by private press printers. The cards, filed separated from other private press printed ephemera by Lieberman, are arranged chronologically and include an occasional photograph or a letter from the family.

The third subseries IV.3. Bundled Private Press Ephemera is a collection of bundled material from the Amalgamated Printers’ Association and the National Amateur Press Association. Organized in the original mailed envelopes, some of which are marked “gleaned” or “to be gleaned,” the bundles contained samples of printed private press ephemera. Member submissions were distributed regularly through a designated mailer and each piece submitted bears a membership number that identifies its printer.

Subseries IV.4. Miscellaneous private press ephemera consists of printed publications, journals, and miscellaneous ephemera from the 1950s to the 1980s. An unfoldered collection of miscellaneous printed journals, most likely gleaned from bundles distributed by the National Amateur Press Association and/or the Amalgamated Printers’ Association comprise the first half of this subseries. A large sample has been grouped alphabetically, to which is appended a smaller collection of unsorted journals.

The final box of this subseries consists of miscellaneous ephemera and printed material, such as prop cards and prospectuses, as well as some general correspondence and reference material.